Placards from antisemitic marches in London

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I had written this as a response to the other thread which was closed as it was overrun by antisemitic d**ks. As I'm sure this one will be too. They can't allow us to share the truth of what is being said and done in our own home towns and cities.

Look at these images. No, they are not in the minority or unusual. Here are just a few of many, many overtly antisemitic placards from Saturday's protest in London. (And a bonus one from 2021, which the lovely John McDonnell also spoke at.)

This is MY HOME. I am Jewish. My family fled pogroms in Eastern Europe and Nazis in Germany. Those family members who didn't flee were murdered for being Jews. And here we fucking are again. In London. And people defending it.

This is NOTHING TO DO WITH ISRAEL. These are Jew-haters, the faces of hate, the faces of anger and mockery, openly calling for Jews, for me, my family, my children, my parents, to be murdered, in my home city.

And people are defending it. How the fuck do you think we feel?

Just an embarrassingly awkward name for someone arguing with mostly Jewish posters on a thread about antisemitism and antisemitism at the marches

Cool

Glad we cleared that up

😂

Oh the irony of the fascists opposing an anti Israeli march.

Good to see that some common sense is not dead:

Yep it is an interesting one

Oswald Mosley must be turning in his grave

Since the terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, we have made a total of 188 arrests involving hate crimes and acts such as violence, linked to protests in the capital.

Of these 98 are suspected anti-Semitic offences, 21 are alleged Islamophobic offences and a further 12 are believed to be faith hate crimes.

In addition, 57 are public order offences, including many which are racially aggravated.

The vast majority of protest arrests took place in Westminster, while the majority of anti-Semitic offences were reported in Hackney where there is a large Jewish community.

Metropolitan Police commander Paul Trevers, who is responsible for criminal justice outcomes, said: “This is a challenging time for communities in London.

We continue to see a very concerning rise in both anti-Semitic and Islamophobic hate crime. This is absolutely unacceptable.

No-one should be subjected to hate because of their faith or race, and we are taking action against those who are offending.

In some cases, our officers have taken accounts of extremely shocking and hateful abuse as well as acts of violence.

We are working with the Crown Prosecution Service to build strong cases against those who offend.

Anyone who sees an incident of concern, experiences threatening behaviour – including online, or is worried about their safety, should contact police on 101 or 999 in an emergency."

The ‘Can You March for Palestine and Condemn the Israeli Government Without Using Antisemitic Tropes and Invoking the Holocaust?’ Challenge Starts now:

The Guardian:
12.15 GMT
A woman carrying a sign saying “Netanyahu Hitler would be proud” and comparing the Israel-Gaza conflict to the Holocaust has been spotted by PA reporters at the march.
The agency says the woman, who did not give her name, was holding the placard in Hyde Park. The other side of the sign reportedly said:
In Auschwitz there is a plaque that says ‘those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it’ – George Santayana. Israel it’s clearly showing.”
The woman, who said she had visited Auschwitz, defended the comparison between the Nazi leader and Israel’s prime minister, telling the PA news agency: “At the end of the day we have put it in a way to compare both leaders. I think it’s a pretty fair comparison.
“At the end of the day let’s keep it to the facts, Hitler, what he did was outcasted people, he killed them …
“Netanyahu’s doing the same thing, even if you listen to the things he said so outright like trying to flatten Palestine.”

The woman's explanation doesn't surprise me

I wonder if she could manage to point out Gaza on a map.

Highly doubt it.

The fact that so many people can't see what is and what is not anti semitic tells you a lot.

The definition is loose really and whoever is giving the definition sets the parameters. That is the problem. It depends on who you talk to it seems.

I've been told a couple of times that focusing on Israel at all is antisemitic, seeing as so many horrors are happening everywhere else- which is ridiculous because my come back is "erm but the UK and US condemn Iran/China/Russia/all other places that are discriminating and oppressing though??? yet the US and UK stand by unequivocally with Israel when they are doing the same thing???" make that make sense.

My own interpretation of antisemitism is not to conflate policy with people, not to conflate people with tropes and not to tarnish the religion.

I think condemning the policies of the govt is fair game and Bibi Netanyahu is a dick and it is fair game to say that. Calling out the oppression for what it is is fair game.

Carrrying a placard that says 'Bibi Netanyahu a dick' is not antisemitic. Carrying a placard that calls out 'the biased BiBiC' is antisemitic. Sadly some people seem to be incapable of understanding the difference.

The fact that so many people can't see what is and what is not anti semitic tells you a lot

Not really, lots of people don't understand if certain things are racist. During the Black Lives Matter protests, people were arguing that various things weren't racist and there were suggestions that they might want to do some reading and book recommendations were made.

If you don't understand why something might be considered antisemitic, it's probably not a good idea to just say 'I don't think it's antisemitic therefore I'm going to argue against it, or continue doing it'. It might be a good idea to look into it a bit further.

I've been told a couple of times that focusing on Israel at all is antisemitic, seeing as so many horrors are happening everywhere else- which is ridiculous

Or you could look at some of the people who are rabidly obsessed with Israel to the exclusion of all other conflicts and dig a bit more into what they think about Jews. I did this when all the antisemitism in Labour stuff was going on and fucking hell the antisemitism was undeniable there. Plenty of innocent faces protesting that it was just purely humanitarian concern or whatever there too.

Britain has been supportive of some fairly horrendous regimes abroad, the idea that Israel is the only one we've propped up in various ways doesn't really wash. (Look at human rights in Qatar and our defence partnership with them).

The fact that so many people can't see what is and what is not anti semitic tells you a lot.

It mostly tells me that those people are actively choosing not to see it whilst simultaneously trying to redefine it because they don’t want to examine their own prejudice too closely.

I agree the BBC IS antisemitic. They are hugely selective in their coverage.

How is this happening?
Clearly there for peace..... :/

It's happening because police aren't interested in pulling out the racists from the crowd.

Totally agree, 25milesfromhome. People are wriggling around to find a way of being 'on the right side of history' and racist at the same time.

I used to be very involved with the Free Tibet movement back in the day before interest in the decimation of Tibet by China waned.
Interesting how all these ‘anti racism’ Free Palestinian people never march or show concern when other countries commit atrocities. Only Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, surrounded by enemies who want it blasted to oblivion.
Maybe the Chinese are just not Jewish enough.

In my experience the exact same people went to both? And the same people were also pro-Ukraine and might have talked about taking in refugees (probably didn’t though), and also offloaded their outgrown children’s clothing to the camps in Calais.

You can certainly argue their commitment is only superficial, but the majority of people are not there because they have an issue with Jewish people. A lot of people are just low information “anti dead children” without being particularly interested in the details on either side. Lots of wishywashy bleeding heart liberals who, as a poster said upthread, just want to be on the right side of history.

Do Hamas exploit that, yep, do other groups like the SWP piggyback on that, definitely. But the vast majority of people on that March will have nothing whatsoever against Jewish people, and would flip to supporting Israel given the right circumstances.

@Stomacharmeleon the words written in Arabic on the bands are the Muslim declaration of faith, known as the Shahada. It translates as 'There is no God but Allah, Muhammed is his messenger'

Muslims repeat the Shahadah first thing on waking and last thing before sleeping. They are the first words whispered into the ear of a new-born baby, and if possible, the last words uttered to the dying.

It is not a 'Hamas Headband' as you say.

@ItsRainingTacos79 so if it's fine and dandy to wear it why have your face covered like that is if mimicking a well-known terrorist organisation?

And is 'first thing on waking and last thing on sleeping' relevant to a peace protest in central London? Am struggling to see why it would be worn? If not, again, to mimic?

A bit like the ladies wearing the para gliding outfits saying they always wear them out for an afternoon stroll. No offensive in themselves but still....

@ItsRainingTacos79 also my name is not Dr Eli David....

I don't know why they are covering their faces, but I have to correct you when the words of the Shahada, one of the five pillars of Islam, is referred to as a 'Hamas Headband'.

I was at the march and was looking out for the kind of placards the Daily Mail always reports that I never seem to see. I didn't see a single Hamas headband. I did take note of some of placards referencing hate though:

This totally. We see them.