To feel like the tide of public opinion has turned against the pro-palestine protestors

[JKLolling]

Every social media feed I have is full of irate people commenting on pro-gaza protestors.

From people commenting on Greta Thunberg sharing the picture of the starving hostage and claiming it was a Palestinian (wtf was she thinking?!) , to the student saying Israelis should 'go back where they came from', there are thousands of angry comments. Lots of the protestors hiding their faces too, and on a local Uni group people are trying to name the protestors seen today and get them removed from their courses

I'm disgusted with what I've seen today, and it feels like the tide is turning and people are seeing these protests for what they really are: an opportunity for hate-filled morons to get together and intimidate people. I feel like they've completely ruined their cause just because they couldn't wait a day to protest.

I feel like there’s a whole other conversation here about what can people who DO want the UK government to stop arming Israel but who don’t hate Jewish people or want to cause public unrest actually do?

If the current way of voicing our views isn’t effective or is causing distress to people who aren’t to blame and who can’t take action (aka the average Jewish person living in Manchester or wherever) then what’s the alternative?

People could march for peace and a ceasefire and a return of the hostages instead of Globalise the Intifada and Death to the IDF?

Totally agree OP. The rhetoric of some of these protesters is frankly terrifying and not remotely what we want on the streets of Britain.
I've seen some thoroughly nasty individuals being interviewed today under the guise of being 'pro-Palestine'. If this is what empathy looks like, frankly, you can keep it!

Not a competition, but come on. Today’s the anniversary of innocent young music festival goers being kidnapped, raped, murdered, and no-one knows whether the ones not released are dead or alive. It’s a day for them to mourn. Yet pro Palestinians thought it a good idea to try to hijack the day by having marches. Why? The day is if no relevance to them whatsoever, other than their leaders decided to instigate a war on that day. It smacks of a celebration of what happened, like trying to minimise what the families have been put through since that day. And now it’s backfiring, because people now see these protestors for who they are. Very unpleasant vile individuals. The tide’s turning…

An obvious celebration of the October 7th massacre on the streets of Birmingham. How could anyone fail to be disgusted?

You can believe that what’s happening in Gaza is horrific and that what happened on 7th October was horrific. Most people feel empathy for both sides. It’s called humanity.

What I struggle with is the growing number of people who deny or downplay what happened on 7th October, or who claim to be anti-Zionist, not anti-Semitic. Zionism is complex and deeply nuanced, and to dismiss it outright often crosses into antisemitism.

I also think many sensible pro-Palestinian voices get drowned out by the louder, more extreme ones, people who seem fuelled by outrage rather than understanding. It doesn’t help build empathy or wider public support. It’s also disappointing how rarely Hamas is condemned, or how little is said about the lack of support from neighbouring Arab states. That silence alienates people too.

But today wouldn’t have been their normal day of marching. Had it been on a Saturday which is when they like to do their marches, then maybe. But to actually choose to deviate from that and switch to today of all days, there are no words..,

Also, sadly Gaza isn’t the only genocide happening in the World. Where is the outcry for what is happening in Sudan and China and the horrific human rights atrocities in the Congo and Syria! Where is the collective outrage? I don’t get it!

Not all Germans supported Hitler and the Nazi regime.

Nobody apologises for the death of 6 million Germans in WW2, approximately 2 million of them were civilians because civilian casualties happen in war.

War is horrific, terrible things happen and we would all wish they didn’t.

People will say, not all Palestinians voted for Hamas or are supporters.

We don’t have empirical evidence to know whether more of the general population of Gaza support Hamas than everyday Germans supported the Nazis. I suspect the latter have a high popularity rating but don’t know.

At least the Nazis were a little bit discreet about their desire to exterminate Jews; for Hamas it’s their raison d’etre and they’ve never shied away from it.

I don’t support Netanyahu and the current Israeli government but Hamas is an anti-Jewish death cult.

The naivety of so many people on these marches supporting the anti-Israel stance but not calling out Hamas is astounding.

Where’s the outrage and weekly marches for people killed in Syria or Yemen, the genocide in Myanmar or the Armenians in Azerbaijan?

So many of the useful idiots were captured chanting from ‘the River to the Sea’ and when asked had no idea which river or the sea they were chanting about.

On the contrary. The celebs speaking out, the UK recognition of Palestine, the evidence. It’s all stacking up.

Yes! I find the Pro Palestinian moment very extreme. Most people do, but are too scared to ever vocalise this! And when good journalism questions them all of sudden it’s propaganda/lies etc.

If people are finally seeing the pro Palestine lobby for who they are then I’m glad - they’re a bunch of naive middle class fools and antisemitic islamists.

If the Middle East is such a haven perhaps they’d be happier there. Good riddance to them.

@BewaretheIckabogyou summed it up perfectly! Collective outrage for something many know so little about. Who is funding all this activism and fuelling these fires?

I hope that the tide has turned as over the last year and a half it seems that anyone who did not support calls for a free Palestine were silenced, it was almost impossible to hold a debate as the views were shouted down. I think the last week has shown the ugly side of some of those protesting a significant number seeming to be anti semetic

Yep.

We were discussing what the next nonsense they will be supporting is.

Like any of these morons give an actual fuck about Palestine or Palestinians.

They are the same fuckwits who shout at women speaking.

Fuck them all. Governments need to get a proper grip before people actually have had enough and the real far right they are afraid of get a proper foot hold.

Every insult, every inconvenience, every threat, and every blind eye makes the Right just that little bit more attractive, and you are a fool if you can't see it.

The tide is turning but not how you rhink. Pro Palestine protests are spreading like wildfire. The protests around the world this week have been amazing. A quarter of a million people in Amsterdam, a quarter of a million in Italy, 160000 in Spain. The free Palestine movement is growing with every child starved and every bomb dropped. Governments are listening Palestinian recognition, bans on trade with Israeli firms in the OPT, wealth funds divesting from Israeli companies, 1000s of actors, directors and film makers boycotting Israel film groups implicated in genocide and on and on it goes. The tide has certainly turned.

Celebs? Seriously? They’re clueless. They just jump on the current trend, usually to protect their careers. They usually don’t reflect the opinions of the none celebs - they don’t even know what a woman is fgs, but seem to collectively bleat about trans rights. And of course the UK government support a Palestinian state. It’s Labour we’re talking about, who have rogue anti semitics in their party and are the ones to the far left who are now Starmer’s puppet masters. Bit of a poor ‘scraping the barrel’ argument…

@CrossCheckinghas it really though? Can you please list all links to everything you cited! These protests always seem big when taking aerial footage in the city! But turnabouts in comparison to population are tiny!

government’s are recognising Palestine but also if you notice, they aren’t going out of their way to stop Israel. A few big celebs have spoken out, but I haven’t heard of anything in Hollywood that’s rocked the boat! Perhaps the biggest high profile action is the flotilla that Greta was a part of. In fact, why don’t some of these celebs turn up at the borders of Gaza? I’m not sure I’ve seen one?

And attitudes like this are why it will never be solved. Like most wars this one is run by the government's of both states not the innocent civilians who have been slaughtered, raped and every other disgusting thing they've both done. I absolutely condemn Netanyahu for what he's doing but i also condemn Hamas for raping and mutilating men, women and children. Do I blame the people who live in these countries? No i don't.

@saltererwhat is your opinion of Hamas?

Yep. But today they could only muster ‘hundreds’ of protestors on the streets in the UK. A bit of a damp squib really wasn’t it? Thing is, people are unhappy about their ‘war’ being brought to our doorstep, evidenced by Thursday’s attack of a synagogue. We’re not interested. The majority of us are more concerned with what’s happening in our own country currently, rather than whether or not we’re selling arms to a country defending themselves from a terrorist group.

It’s opened my eyes to anti -semitism and the extermination of all Jewish people being the biggest motivator.

If I felt safe to go on a march saying ‘End Hamas and End the Israeli bombings’ I would.

When will people wake up and see Hamas are further away from a two state solution than Israel and there a good reason why Egypt and the Arab nations are less vocal than misguided middle-class liberal Europeans in support?

They tried to but got lost. This is their route, and that is not where Rafah is.

They literally couldn’t find Gaza on a map.

So if you are white and middle class, you are not allowed to protest about anything because you can't be anything other than a privileged virtue signaller?. Don t be so daft.

I couldn’t agree more.