To say the London Palestinian marches should be stopped

[KarmaCaramello]

They are weekly marches found to be organised by organisations with links to Hamas, and at least one ex Hamas member.

They are supporting a terrorist organisation that has just committed the deadliest day in Israel’s history. An Iranian dissident was arrested for holding a sign saying Hamas is Terrorist, despite the fact that they are a UK-designated terrorist organisation - because protestors assaulted him on seeing the sign.

If they were calling for peace and fewer casualties they would be condemning Hamas and calling for them to surrender.

AIBU to think this is deeply disturbing and has no place on the streets of London. Note - terrorist support is illegal and not protected speech.

@HeidiInTheBigCity

Although I may disagree with your views your post was well written.

The issue I have is that one person's right to protest should not trump another person's ability to go about their daily affairs unhindered or to feel threatened.

The reality is that the protests are disruptive to ordinary people that they are threatening to Jewish people, that they are divisive to British society and that they do risk increasing anti Islamic sentiment. And all this for what actual change in Israel's or UK Govt actions?

@ConnieCounter

This is not a claim to be feeling intimidated instead it is actual real intimidation:

www.lbc.co.uk/news/met-police-officer-threatens-arrest-jewish-man-breach-peace-pro-palestine-march/

Thanks for posting this. I saw it earlier today but don't know how to post links! It's just appalling to watch. Say it all really

Have you read Heidi's posts before about what she has been through and seen the IDF/Israel do? If you have I would like to think you would show more compassion towards someone who still carries trauma from what she has suffered through/witnessed others suffer though. If you haven't perhaps you should search her username and read her posts on this topic, they are both heartbreaking and informative.

Compassion, really? You're asking for us to be compassionate towards someone who in her own words, " absolutely hates these people". You can't justify, or explain away extremist views like that. Its obvious that the poster needs help, not enablement.

The Communists tried that, and look how that ended.

Yes but anyone can claim to be intimidated. It's a low bar to remove democratic rights for.

Where I work I have to pass protests very regularly to attend work. Sometimes I'm harassed or intimidated. I absolutely disagree with most of the demonstrators. It's never ever occured to me to remove people's rights to free speech and demonstration because a few people attending behave badly and I disagree with their point of view.

https://x.com/antisemitism/status/1781032832204214308?s=46

Campaign against antisemitism full video explaining what happened with this man.

Sorry but I think the copper was right. I see it as no different than if a Millwall fan wanted to stand in the West Ham stand. The copper saw a situation that was likely to end badly due to the ridiculous gang mentality and tried to stop the situation getting worse.

Just pro-Palestinian ones? Or just ones you don't like? Seems a dangerous road to me.

It’s not about the policeman and whether he was right or not. It’s about a situation where visibly being a Jew in London and walking in the vicinity of the march/ across the march (not protesting the March, not engaging in Pro Israel counter demonstrating), but just being visibly Jewish, is considered enough provocation that he may be attacked.

I don’t agree it is the same as the football fan analogy. An equivalent analogy would be to say a woman wearing hijab going about her business would be a provocation if she walked across a pro Israel demonstration. It would be extremely racist to say that to her! And to remove her or prevent her from going across because of her safety would tell you all you need to know about the demonstration, it would be anti Muslim, not pro Israel.

I don’t think they should be banned, but I do think Jewish people’s concerns about the marches need to be taken seriously and addressed.

I'm flatly against preventing the marches. Everyone should have the right of protest. I don't accept for one minute that those marching are Hamas sympathisers. They are against the war, as they have every right to be. As they actually should be.

It's a twisted world where in the uk it is being suggested that we should be prevented from objecting to genocide elsewhere.

43% of people on Gaza are under 14 years old ffs. Do you even bother to check when their last election?

Your comment made me sick to my stomach.

@marmaladeandpeanutbutter

"Everyone should have the right of protest."
I would agree on this point provided one person's right to protest does not impact another person's right to go about their daily affairs unhindered and un intimidated.

"I don't accept for one minute that those marching are Hamas sympathisers. "

So those marching are either support or do not support Hamas. A number who have openly supported Hamas have been arrested. However don't you think it strange that out of the 100 thousand plus marchers not one has a placard criticising or condemning Hamas? Why do you think this is?

I can offer two possible explanations

1. that on the occasion that someone has put up a poster simply stating Hamas is a terrorist group they were first physically attacked by the protesters and then arrested. So maybe no one wants to publicly criticise Hamas for fear of their own safety, so not such a peaceful march after all. Or

2. A large number if not majority actually do indeed support or sympathise with Hamas. They dont do this openly for fear of being arrested.

or a combination of the two.

If you'd read any of my posts you'd have seen I haven't actually even said they should be banned.

This is so confusing.... according to many posters there's no anti semitism on these marches, yet a visibly Jewish person is told they can't walk through the march. 🤔makes you wonder...

I don’t accept your arguments.. War suppporters have done their best to try to demonise demonstrators. Stop the genocide, I say. And stop bombing Iran like a bunch of idiots whilst you’re about it. It’s plain that Israel has an agenda beyond self defence, and I condemn it. We shouldn’t pay a penny of our government support for it, either

Who walks through a march though? 🤔 I've never ever encountered a protest or march and thought walking through a large crowd moving in the other direction was logical at all?

There's plenty of Jewish people walking in the march, I don't know why so many comments are suggesting being Jewish and being a Pro Palestinian protestor are incompatible.

@Lampy123678 Quite. Just not the extreme right wing supporters!

I don't know what it was... whether it was through the march or alongside it or what.

But regardless.... being visibly Jewish in London today is not safe.

So Jewish people who don't march are extreme right wingers? Is that what you're saying?

"There's Jews on the marches" sounds very much like "I have friends that are black"

The thread is asking if they should be stopped. That's literally the point of the thread so not sure why you're picking at me for discussing that?

It really is.