Shabana Mahmood's comments

[ThisPeppyGreenCritic]

I am absolutely disgusted by both Shabana Mahmood describing anti-genocide protests in this way when far-right marches of people screaming fascist propaganda have been uncritically happening for months, and the BBC in this article, in particular quoting Ephraim Mirvis as if he is speaking for the entire Jewish community in the UK and uncritically quoting his allegations smearing anti-genocide protests as “antisemitic”.

A horrific antisemitic attack is sickening. Using it for political ends is morally bankrupt.

I'm interested in the stance of other MNetters on, broadly, this situation and, specifically, of Mahmood's comments.

Relevant link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgy8kvvkp3o

Yes of course. We had a terrorist attack on our soil, compassion and respect should have been shown.

Invariably when someone posts ‘so you..’ they are not close.

Laws can actually change btw. I don’t care what she does but I think her strong words will come back to bite when the protests continue.

People only hate Jews because they are Muslim

I don’t want her to ‘ban them’ but as you can see from this thread people post it’s time for them to stop.

Politically this is her remit, so looking strong on one day can backfire on the next. I don’t give the marches much headspace but her words will impact how people feel about them.

Basically a politician who sounds strong but isn’t could be her outcome.

I stand by Shabana Mahmood. Two years of hate marches with genocidal chants calling for globalising the Intifada and yesterday's terrorist attack was bound to happen

Of course the marches are unBritish. We're generally a tolerant nation, but for the past two years we've had antisemites on the streets stoking hatred, promoting violence and fostering division

Did anyone really expect the hate march organisers to cancel any marches out of respect for the Jewish community? They have never respected the Jewish community!

Sorry, I don't really understand the point that you're trying to make.

Are you saying that Shabana Mahmoud should do more to prevent the protest from going ahead? If so, what exactly are you saying that you think she should do, and do you think she would be able to do this without overstepping her remit?

Or is it that you accept that she can't actually do anything but you think she will inevitably get the blame if the protest goes ahead? And perhaps that she should therefore have said nothing on the subject?

You think the only antisemitic people are Muslim?

I don’t see how Shabana Mahmood can be criticised for saying “it is right that people have the right to protest, my view is it would be appropriate for them to choose not to protest tomorrow”. You can disagree with her but no idea what you could criticise her for.

It was also perfectly within the remit of the march organisers to say that they remain as committed to their cause but that it is right that, this week, they stand with the Jewish community after a horrific attack which is totally at odds with anything they stand for.

But they haven’t.

It’s still what I posted earlier, I think the mismatch between expectation and action will be more of an issue as the protests continue.

OK, but you're still not saying exactly what you think she should do to pre-empt and address that issue. It's easy to criticise from the sidelines but not so easy to suggest alternative courses of action.

Unless, of course, I have misunderstood and you're actually expressing sympathy for Mahmoud because you know that there is nothing she can do but you think she will be blamed regardless?

I agree.

And I don't think it would have damaged the Pro-Palestinian cause at all if they had chosen to cancel the marches in order to stand in solidarity with the Jewish community against antisemitism. Quite the contrary.

It’s up to her to navigate, I posted a possible outcome of her words. And no I don’t feel sorry for her, there’s plenty of people I think of first in relationship to the terrorist attack, she is not one of them.

i personally think that anyone who feels their right to protest is greater than protecting the Jewish communities around the uk are just ignorant idiots

So basically you were just carping from the sidelines and looking for an excuse to criticise? But you don't actually have any opinions on what she should have done differently?

Thanks for clarifying.

No again. I said it was a possible outcome. You don’t like that, that doesn’t change much.

If they were decent that's exactly what they would have done but of course they support terrorists so i wouldn't expect anything better from them.

I don't dispute that it is a possible outcome. Politicians regularly get blamed for things are beyond their control, so there is nothing new there.

But your posts were clearly intended to be critical of Mahmoud, without actually saying how you think she could have done things differently. You asked if she wants the protests to be stopped or not, and stated that it was "within her remit". However, when pressed on what she could do within that remit to actually stop the protests, you had nothing of substance to add.

We all know that you don't like the Labour government and that you will seek to find fault with them no matter what they do. As it happens, I'm not a particular fan of Shabana Mahmoud myself. But on this occasion, I think she has struck the right balance between asking protesters to show respect and solidarity with the Jewish community without actually overstepping the boundaries of her remit by seeking to stop a protest that she has no authority to stop. Credit where credit is due.

ETA Forgot to quote, that was a response to @EasternStandard.

Absolutely this

Let's not start calling for the government to ban marches. Not the Pro-Palestinian, Tommy Robinson, Just Stop, BLM or any other. The right to protest is protected and must remain.

This.

OPs comments about the terrorist murders being 'used for political ends' are completely sickening.

This shows the utter absence of compassion, utter dehumanisation of Jewish people, of the pro-Palestinian protestors.

They demonstrate how quickly people will dehumanise other groups of people. Its disturbing how willingly people embrace racism.

I agree. People should absolutely have the right to protest.

I would like to see people exercising that right in a sensitive, respectful and compassionate way. However, I don't want the Home Secretary to rush in and ban them if they fail to do this.

I knew your post would go this way, remarks on not liking the Labour gov etc. In response I know you like the Labour gov.

It was an observation on the risk of meeting expectation, in this case related to the words un-British and wrong.

No one has - as far as I can see. Including Mahmood.

She asked for the marchers to be self-managing. She gave a factual response to the issue of whether she has the power to ban marches. She said people have a right to demonstrate. Posters on this thread have talked abut the choices the demonstrators made.

Excellent!

Of course they should have.

But they didn't, not because it seemed like a waste of their effort to do so, but because the people on the marches celebrate the murder of Jews. In Manchester yesterday they let off firecrackers just like they did to celebrate October 7th. They chant 'globalise the Intifada' and the murders yesterday were exactly that, they chant ' from the river to the sea' which calls for the genuinely genocidal destruction of Israel and Israelis.