AIBU to compare pro-Palestine and Tommy Robinson-led protests? Both involve hatred antisemitism or racism and both end up in trouble. Two cheeks of the same ass as I've heard on here before!

[HeyHoHenryHippy]

Pro-Palestine and Tommy Robinson-led protests this Saturday with yet again thousands of officers having to spend the day controling these protests. Surely there is a better way. Static protest or once a month for Gaza? I think Tommy's lot isn't weekly like the Gaza lot.

Antisemitism is a major problem and general racism also up. Armoured vehicles are needed now with the first time in 15 years to use them. Terror incidents have risen yet what have either of these 'protests' achieved apart from further divisions!

Stick them in separate areas and tell them to stand with their various placards and keep them there. They ave their virtue signalling and hate fuelled moments but stop annoying the rest of us and keep the costs down - it's costing millions of pounds.

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15816041/Met-Police-call-armoured-cars-London-braces-day-pro-Palestine-Tommy-Robinson-led-protests.html

Who is going to punish the IDF? The ones that kill aid workers and shoot kids dead?

Tommeh has been in prison 5 times. He's a racist. You are conflating that with people who march for Palestine yeah? I had to protest against the Scottish defence league in my home town a few years ago. They intimidated people. They threw smoke bombs at us. They had to get a police escort to and from the train station - the crime was asylum seekers getting a few flats in one of the worst areas of my home town that no one wanted

Edl members were there too. Bussed up from England Shops had to close

Never seen that at any Palestine march I have been on

Oh and I'm a racist for being pro Palestine according to this thread starter. I'm reporting this thread to the mods. No you don't call me a racist

Reported the thread to the mods. I'm not a racist. I'm not a trouble maker. I have never been in trouble for marching anywhere. This is just rage bait on a grand scale.

Enough is enough. I'm astonished that people actually can't compute that if you are pro Palestine you aren't automatically a racist or a troublemaker. For Shame.

Total rage bait. Nothing else

You are bang out of order. I don't hate Jews on any level. I have reported your horrible thread. Including people like me being called terrorists - no wonder people don't feel comfortable for saying they support Palestine - because they know the names they'll be called.

Is it any wonder why people don't feel comfortable for saying they support Israel? It won't just be names they get called!

Much like anybody supporting Israel and its right to exist.

Exactly!! But these people are so one sided (as the left usually are) they fail to see anything other than their own opinion! This whole thread is about how BOTH sides are bad.

As if anyone in the middle east actually cares anyway what these people with no cause are doing with their time in London city! 😂 its pathetic all round. Get a job, take your kids out, go to tne pub? do some art!

Tbh I have now seen quite a few very clearly anti-semetic posters being hoisted on the far right March. The Palestinian/counter Tom March had a larger Jewish contingent within it as far as I can see too.

The far right puzzle me when they have Neo Nazis marching next to the Star of David flags - I’ve seen this a few times at different places and though I accept marches can be unity for one specific cause and hold some differing views across groups - I find this grouping pretty wild.

I take it you’re referring to the Palestine marches.

Palestinans live here as well you know - they care - plus I think any support around the world will be cared about by the Gazans.

But it is mainly to hold our U.K. government to account, or at least protest at their actions, for supporting Israel in Gaza.

I’m not asking you to agree with the cause - but don’t be so disingenuous about the reasons - unless you only check mumsnet for opinions and have no actual clue about it at all - in which case you shouldn’t really be posting as it would stop you looking so ill informed.

This thread is not about you personally.

Agree.

The reference to far right is a continuing joke. I no longer take seriously anybody who describes normal people, who are entitled to express their frustration as far right. If that's the case, why do the left go up in arms when they are addressed as hard left, meaning extreme? As for antisemitism being firmly placed in the right wing sector, you're just deluded.

It's just derailing tactics. Have seen it all before. Those more than happy to call every man and his dog racist being faux upset at having the same back at them.

People do feel comfortable saying they support Palestine, thousands do at the marches. I've repeatedly said that I'm not against free speech but feel static marches would be better, cost less and would be easier to spot the racism and antisemitism that some of these protesters (both TR and PP marches) clearly show. The rest of the protesters carry on. No need to move through a city when static protests could be managed.

I've never called you a terrorist. Why do you feel the need to try to shut down debate and free speech. Maybe calm a bit and think of the people who are fearful when TR and PP marches pass them?

Indeed, there are clearly racists on both of the protests. Neither the TR or PP protests are completely free of racism and antisemitism.

The police can monitor and arrest and need to do that, and be seen to do that, when chanting or slogans that are clearly racism/antisemitic for both sets of protesters. Its much easier to do that on static protests. Bonus is that people uninterested or not wanting to be disrupted by these protests can avoid them.

Oh, here we go again. ‘Never read anything as ignorant as this’ - you’ve said it about several posts on here.

"Police said repeated large pro-Palestinian marches - 33 since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023 - had left many Jewish people feeling too intimidated to enter central London.

While protesters held a range of views, police said the marches routinely led to arrests for racially and religiously aggravated public order offences.

Some protesters on Saturday chanted "Death to the IDF", referring to the Israeli army - language that police previously said had been a reason for arrests when aimed at Jewish people."

www.reuters.com/world/uk/tens-thousands-march-london-separate-immigration-propalestinian-protests-2026-05-16/

By all accounts, police were quite moderate on Saturday. I saw one lady dressed as St George, who was spoken to for carrying a fake sword as part of her costume. From what I can gather, officers were employing common sense while siezing the object. Meanwhile, the counter protest saw officers having to make arrests. Now here's the thing: the prevailing violence seen at the Palestinian marches still goes on after 3 years. One Unite rally gets Starmer talking about thugs. It's a shame he can't act on the thuggery seen week after week. Until he does and while he's still in office, his clamp down on antisemitism is worthless.

Crossed post with yours @HeyHoHenryHippy thanks for providing that info.

Well it’s a valid description of Neo Nazis and fascists - they are the far right. Some don’t go on these marches under that specific banner but they are certainly marching with those that do, so they are grouped with them.

I’m not personally hard left - my personal banner would say ‘love not hate’ or ‘humanity to all’ - however, if I’m grouped under that by folk then ok - I am content with who I am but hardly expect everyone to know exactly who I am - and it is imo preferable to being called a fascist anyway.

I’m not saying only the far right are anti-Semitic - it’s a wider issue - and it’s abhorrent wherever it is seen. I am however saying what I personally saw on Saturday. I am also saying that I find the alignment of Neo Nazis and Star of David flags quite baffling - you didn’t help me understand that one.

Parading swastikas and denigrating the Holocaust memories have been the forte of pro Palestine marches. You're not going to gaslight anyone. Ask any Jew if they felt safer standing in front of TR or ZP' brigade.

The actual figures from the Met:

Unite the Kingdom: 20 arrests, 9 of those for alleged hate crimes.

Pro-Palestine: 12 arrests, 2 of those for alleged hate crimes.

11 other arrests of individuals not linked to either march.

As always, it helps to base claims in fact, not supposition.

I’ve read that it was more real than fake but a part of a costume she’d hired so not deliberately a real weapon.

Tbh the police on Saturday looked amazingly less stressed compared to September where it was tense and clearly scary for a couple of stray bobbies. I didn’t personally see them monitoring the Tom March but online it didn’t seem as bad - I think the bigger separation helped.

I saw a Bobby ask someone to take off a face mask on my side m, but it seemed an easy exchange - no problem. I think the police may have gone with ‘as low key’ intervention as possible on both marches tbh - save heightening any tensions between any groups/police.

Very different to September - it was managed pretty well.