Anti lockdown protests yesterday.

[Tumbleweed101]

There is a lot being said on social media but not much in mainstream news which is interesting given how many people seem to have gone to the one in London at least. I understand there were some elsewhere in the country too.

Just curious if anyone took part
and what people think about the protests.

@vera99

Standupx was one group involved in the organisation of the march.

Here are some others:

Save Our Rights
The Great Reopening
Official Voice
Stop New Normal
A Stand in The Park
Event 202
Foot Soldiers
World Freedom Alliance
The Freedom Hub UK
Jam for Freedom

This is the list posted on the group chat. There were also representatives from the Mayoral candidates piers Corbyn, Lawrence Fox and David Kurten and possibly others.

There were a few antifa types there too.

Lots of different groups were involved in making the protest happen yesterday, many of them at odds politically.

Honestly @Terracotta9 I think what you have said is pretty offensive. Some scumbags have been wearing yellow stars and you are excusing it by saying they might be Jewish?

Meh

@Tumbleweed101 do you have similar reservations about blood clots and the contraceptive pill?

[quote Terracotta9]@Pinkearedcow
I don't understand why you keep saying Jewish people can wear a yellow star if they wish? I don't think the people wearing them on the demo were Jewish? Or am I misunderstanding something?

Surely that’s the point?

I don’t know if those photographed wearing yellow stars are Jewish or not.

If they aren’t Jewish, then I think it was a stupid action and they deserve to be called out as anti-semites and racists.

If they are Jewish, then it’s not my place to tell them they can’t make the comparison.[/quote]
In this case it doesn't matter if they are Jewish or not. This is an act of some uneducated people or blatant inappropriate behaviour

The Auschwitz Memorial blasted the anti-vaxx activists.

"Instrumentalization of the tragedy of Jews who suffered, were humiliated, marked with a yellow star, and finally isolated in ghettos and murdered during the Holocaust, in order to argue against vaccination that saves human lives is a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decline," the museum wrote.

Using Laurence Fox as an example of a reasonable person involved (or indeed Piers Corbyn) isn't exactly a strong argument

@Terracotta9 thanks for that glad to see my favoured mayoral candidate Count Binface wasn't there. I shall have a look at their websites and report back later. And I'm sure there were a lot of good folk on the crowd with good intentions but as they say the road to hell with paved with good intentions.

Posters on a different thread yesterday who lost family to the holocaust posted saying how offensive and upsetting they found it.

It's indefensible.

@GrammarTeacher I would have thought they would be a really good reason to not join the protest

A friend of mine attended this March and looking at her photos it was much bigger than the last one, definitely over 10k. I've seen photos of nhs staff at the march in full uniform as well. The coverage on tv isn't showing the true scale of this protest, probably because they don't want others getting ideas.

If the Corbyn brothers are involved let alone Laurence Fox why would anyone else join the protest

I think those that were there needed to turn to their left and turn to their right. If they saw anyone from a nutty, racist or offensive group start shouting at them. Not the general public just out enjoying their day, working , etc

This

Using Laurence Fox as an example of a reasonable person involved (or indeed Piers Corbyn) isn't exactly a strong argument

Lol. I never said that Lawrence Fox is a reasonable person.

I’m merely pointing out the protest was organised and attended by many different groups of people, many of them at political odds with each other.

@smithyca attendees repeatedly over estimate attendance at these marches. 10,000 people is a LOT of people. A crowd is easily overestimated. It feels oppressive. Having run the GNR and London I would have said there were far more people running than there actually were. We are really bad at estimate these things.

I disagree about good intentions. If they were so convinced their 'cause' was just and right, why not have the courage of their convictions? They don't want to risk upsetting their own neighbours. Instead they inflict yet another mass gathering on the city that has lost more than 10,000 people. With deliberate failure to adhere to Covid safe hygiene.

One of them on another thread admits they wouldn't want to hassle (her words) the locals. Like I say, they don't shit in their own backyards. Doesn't suggest much confidence in their cause. That, coupled with the far right associations, in a very diverse city that's suffered more than most others in the UK during the pandemic, indicates a more sinister motive.

First link didn't take long and here's some more. www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/28/coronavirus-denial-videos-are-removed-from-facebook

www.stopnewnormal.net/about (Piers Corbyn)

www.facebook.com/groups/astandintheparkuk

Event 202 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Steele_(conspiracy_theorist)

Nowhere have I defended the wearing of yellow stars.

I’ve said several times that I don’t support or condone it as a protest visual.

But also, it’s not my place to tell Jewish people they shouldn’t make the comparison if that’s what they wish to do. The Jewish lady on the Sky video made the comparison, and that tells me that at least some Jewish people feel the comparison is apt. I would never ever presume to tell a Jewish person how they should feel about nazi Germany.

Feel free too tell a Jewish person how they should feel about their history if they are making light of it. Every community has some village idiots or people with lack of education.

I'm afraid from researching those groups that terracotta provided yesterday's march was organized by conspiraloons and attended by useful idiots probably with a dollop of Russian trolls in the mix as well.

I’m definitely a Russian troll

@terracotta9
тогда убедитесь, что они вам платят!

Nowhere have I defended the wearing of yellow stars.

I’ve said several times that I don’t support or condone it as a protest visual.

Well, you are happy to attend marches where they are consistently used in marches organised by these groups and tacitly condoned by the organisers.

You think your cause is so important it’s ok to stand shoulder to shoulder with the racists using this tactic.

So yeah, you do condone and support it. You’re walking with them. You’re content for their symbols to promote your cause.

And yeah, you think it’s fine to hang out with racists in the name of your cause.

Or is it only anti-Jewish racism that doesn’t count?

People attending may also have been locals. But few locals wanted you all there.

Civil liberties are very precious and worth defending.

I don’t believe they are being eroded - I think they have been restricted TEMPORARILY in response to a global health crisis, and will be restored when conditions are right. As evidence for this view, I offer the fact that the legislation introducing the restrictions has always been time-limited, and that they are already being rolled back.

When case numbers are very low and deaths in single digits, the only restriction I expect to see would be isolate after a positive test. Is that so awful? Of course it would be better if the government agreed to cover wages for everyone who had to do that - and if numbers are low enough, I think that could come. Let’s all lobby our MP’s now!

@toffeebutterpopcorn

Once the march was beyond the main Oxford street shopping area, the rest of it was mostly through empty business districts, with very few locals around to piss off, and no real audience to speak of. My other criticism is that it was miles too long!

But anyway, I’m so local that I didn’t even have to get public transport to get to the march start and end points. Just walked over from my flat.