Israel supporting counter marches in London - about time

[mids2019]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13304895/Met-Police-arrest-Palestine-Israel-march-London-protest-Gaza.html

I think in a democracy this is absolutely necessary. Obviously policing will be important but it is good to see that in terms of street protest this is not a come sided issue.

I wonder how many are going to be arrested losing their rag seeing Israeli flags an masse after getting themselves riled up calling for a ceasefire.....

@Mags48

I think there needs to be a way for people to voice their dissent to the government.

Next weekend the protest will be in Hyde Park which I think is a good option. The protesters will all be in one space. I wonder if Gideon will stumble upon Hyde Park next Saturday with his camera crew.

But honestly what difference is either voicing their dissent to the Government or even what difference can the Government even do if they agree. I don't think that the negatives of division in society and rise in anti semitism and Islamophobia are worth it.

Oh and I agree that Hyde Park is a much better option.

Or perhaps the police officer presumed he needed protection due to his appearance and the march being pro-Palestinian? The actual risk of harm may actually have been minimal given what has happened on prior marches, and the police officer was being cautious?

@stormy4319trevor the officer clearly thought Falter was at risk and linked that to his Jewish identity

@1dayatatime but that raises the question of why it is sadly necessary for the police to have to protect anyone looking visibly Jewish or visibly any religion for that matter.

As someone Jewish, these points, for me, is what the real story is here, so thanks for making them.

This thread has become pretty disgusting now so I'll leave the rest of you to it.

I was talking g generally beyond and including ANY match or gathering with a clear purpose. The reality is, this man was being antagonistic and whilst he failed to get a violent reaction fro m the crowd, he managed to land a police officer in trouble for attempting to provide protection.

Ironically, I say I felt threatened when approached by an aggressively confrontational pro-Zionism woman who called m e awful antisemitic names, and was told it's not a big deal by some here. A police officer attempts to prevent potential aggression towards a man with a visible opposition to thousands of protestors, and you claim its antisimitic.

This thread has become pretty disgusting now so I'll leave the rest of you to it.

Yes, I’m out too. This has become a grotesque thread. It’s deeply shocking.

@1dayatatime I think it’s important to voice our anger at the government. Even if they carry on arming Israel, they know that there are huge numbers of people that are angry about the genocide. Hyde Park is a sensible choice going forward.

@Polka83

"The actual risk of harm may actually have been minimal given what has happened on prior marches, and the police officer was being cautious?"

That's a pretty big "may" given people were gathering shouting Nazi and scum and threatening to follow him round. So I think the police man's assessment of risk to this man's safety was fairly well founded rather than "cautious ".

I guess though that the police could have tested your view and stood back to see if a lynching did indeed take place.

@Mags48

"Even if they carry on arming Israel, they know that there are huge numbers of people that are angry about the genocide"

The UK sells £43 million per annum in arms sales to Israel- honestly it really is next to nothing.

By comparison the UK sells £7 billion a year in arms sales to Saudi which they used in the Yemeni conflict- but no one seemed too bothered about that.

Lastly I think by now most politicians have picked up the point that large numbers of people are unhappy about the conflict so I'm not sure what additional benefit protests from either side are achieving. Although I can certainly see a lot of downsides

By "visible opposition to thousands of protestors", do you mean that he was visibly Jewish?

@Mags48

"I think it’s important to voice our anger at the government"

But it is unacceptable to voice anger against other citizens and to threaten them.

@1dayatatime it should all stop. We could put that £7 billion and 43 million to good use. Fund our NHS, build more houses, support everyone in this country. We shouldn’t be spending a penny on arms to other countries whether that is Saudi Arabia or Israel.

@1dayatatime
People who commit crimes should be arrested. Using the N word is this context is highly offensive. Most people have been peaceful and protesting with the law. Rates of arrest - one large march - 0.006%

He himself was using a camera to record people!

He had been walking around without incident for some hours with his camera man without being lynched?

Should the majority have their right to protest stopped because of a small number of troublemakers on both sides? I’ve been on many of the big protests with my young children and the only anger I’ve seen is directed at our politicians and government.

@Polka83

"He himself was using a camera to record people!

He had been walking around without incident for some hours with his camera man without being lynched"

Seriously come on- everybody is filming every body with their smart phones at these events- what point are you even trying to make or what wrong are you trying to minimise.

The unsubstantiated and without evidence point you made that he managed to walk around for hours without fear of being lynched (even if true) before a crowd did indeed start to threaten him as some form of counter argument is indicative of how disgusting this thread is starting to become.

@Mags48

"Should the majority have their right to protest stopped because of a small number of troublemakers on both sides?"

When it threatens society, causing division, increases anti semitism and Islamophobia for no discernible benefit other than expressing a view that has already been well and truly expressed then yes the majority should have their right to protest stopped.

Lastly I notice that still no one has answered my previous posts on the lack of placards condemning Hamas on these protests.

@Mags48

"@1dayatatime it should all stop. We could put that £7 billion and 43 million to good use."

That's money the UK has made from selling weapons rather than spent - not that it makes it any less morally unacceptable.

@1dayatatime I have to disagree with you. I think the right to protest (especially with regards to a genocide currently taking place) is essential to any democracy. It would be very dangerous to start removing democratic rights.

What about the right to walk through town while visibly Jewish?

Visibly any religion - everyone has the right to free movement. The Palestinians sadly don’t have such rights to free movement, although that is a topic for another thread.

@Mags48

But there has been a history of certain protests being banned in the UK in particular from the far right and indeed the Palestinian protest that was banned from being in the vicinity of the cenotaph back in November.

I have no problem with the right to protest which could equally be achieved in Parliament Square.

Thats slightly misleading. The protest on 11th November was never planned to go past the cenotaph. It had a pre-planned route that was agreed to and followed by the hundreds of thousands that turned up that day - myself included.

So you condemn the protestors who shouted scum and Nazi at the Jewish man, and the man who threatened to follow him around?

Their behaviour is unacceptable, yes?

@Mags48

OK let me rephrase that. The right on where to protest in November was controlled.

@1dayatatime of course it had to be. The Palestinian march followed a route agreed with the Met police - as they have done on all the protests. If I remember, the violence on 11th November came from far right thugs who were emboldened by Suella.

@1dayatatime

“Lastly I notice that still no one has answered my previous posts on the lack of placards condemning Hamas on these protests.”
Did you get an answer to this?