Yesterday’s demonstrations in Luton by a group of Muslims protesting the triumphal return of British soldiers has been branded ‘disgusting’, ‘troop abuse’ and ‘atrocious’. A handful of dissenters waving banners emblazoned with the slogans ‘terrorists’, ‘war criminals’ and ‘baby killers’ took to the streets where they were subjected to verbal abuse from a crowd that started off as a few random passers-by and rapidly swelled into an ‘Enger-lund, Enger-lund’ chanting mob. The event was recorded for posterity and uploaded to YouTube, where it attracted a huge number of viewers.
I wonder what the response would have been had the banners included pictures of Bush and Blair. Had the protesters been targeting the governments of London and Washington, would the locals have come out in support? Dissent? Or would they have walked on by what was ‘just another’ protest against the Iraq war? I doubt it. The response to this march has been overwhelmingly nationalistic. Had the protesters been white, the legitimacy of what they were protesting against would not have been questioned. British soldiers are being deployed in an illegal war which has already seen the death toll of Iraqis escalate to nearly 1.4 million; a country in which 1 in 4 are homeless; in which only 10% of public services actually work; that had the best hospitals in the Middle East before Allied planes carpet-bombed them; where 84% of higher education institutions have been looted, burnt and destroyed; where, in effect, a whole country was systematically dismantled and razed to make way for ‘reconstruction’ and ‘democracy’. It has seen hundreds of our troops return in coffins. It has been exposed as a rabidly colonialist enterprise on the grandest scale, the kind of all-out cultural meltdown that would have warmed Cecil Rhodes’ heart. But because the protesters were Muslim, they’ve been called ‘extremists’, ‘fanatics’ and treated to that quintessentially British cry: ‘go home’.
The truth of the matter is – and it is an exceptionally uncomfortable one – that those in the Armed Forces who know full well that the war in Iraq is illegal and yet continue to fight are as guilty as Blair and Bush. Stating that they are only ‘doing their job’ is the kind of excuse-all rhetoric employed by every lackey who swabbed down a torture chamber in Santiago or stoked the furnaces at Auschwitz. Of those millions who died in Iraq and Afghanistan – the bombed out wedding party that received all of 47 words of coverage in the British press, for example – half of them are children. And the every-day Brit can’t abide having this fact pointed out to them by those they style ‘rag-heads’, those who because they’re not white aren’t to be taken seriously. Reason, logic, justice and prudence are flung out the window. And, when Geert Wilders is refused entrance to the UK and young boys are arrested for holding a placard stating that Scientology is a crock, the very act of radical Muslims exercising the right to free speech and protesting the war is an incitement to violence.
The comments accompanying the YouTube video are illuminating: like those on the Sun website, they fully anticipate a summer of rage and, in fact, relish it. All the multicultural-equality-and-diversity training that we have been force-fed over the past twelve years has not altered the fact that, as behavioural psychology research at Harvard is proving, we are hardwired from a young age to like or dislike a particular skin colour. The British population hasn’t changed its attitudes towards other cultures: it’s been doing its hating on the inside. The Balkanization of Britain has, in effect, created two states, two armies within the gates: both of which, having no common cultural identity, have fallen back on the default position of tribalism. “This makes me sick to my stomach…the revolution is coming! england for english!” writes one Sun reader. I wonder, when the blood is running down the streets, whether he will still think it was worth it.
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I remember seeing something one one of the usenet tags years ago which said something along the lines of The English are slow to anger and woe betide anyone who does raise our ire.
I think yesterday we saw that “England” has had enough. Generally, I am slow to anger and have seen my fair share of civil disobedience in the past but if one of theses bearded laundry baskets comes to my town he will need a very good proctologist to have his banner surgically removed.
What we see here is manipulation of the news. I’m sure The Sun already has the next 6 months headlines ready and waiting. There is indeed an “enemy within”. It is obviously a very emotive subject. I would be more concerned about the people in the background who encouraged this protest and the Police for allowing it in the first place.
When will people refuse to be the puppets of the owners of the large media outlets and stop buying their publications.
There is a chap camped outside the Houses of Parliament, he has been there since the start of the Iraq war. Is he a loony? Should he be moved on? No, he is entitled to his opinion and long may he be able to voice it.
This is an intelligent and thought-provoking commentary. Would that it were a lead piece in the mainstream press.
I will keep quiet regarding this particular subject ………………… Suffice it to say that we need to ensure that these protests are carried out peacefully.
The riots are already in preparation. It is irresponsible and shocking of the Press to actively promote it.
I am scared.
Many moons ago, in the late70s, I lived in Brixton. My friend, a social worker had a flat right opposite the Brixton Police Station.
On the first night of the riots, a photographer knocked on her door and offered her
I believe that the police Force are desperately seeking Asian officers to infiltrate Moslem groups. During the Oldham riots in 2001 ………….. they tried to drag officers from Leed and Bradford.
They could have saved themselves a lot of trouble …………… if they had realised that the families are mainly related somehow somewhere along the line. Especially within 50 miles.
Has anyone noticed the lack of stories about the two soldiers killed in Northern Ireland? The policeman, yes, but the soldiers? Muslim hating headlines sell so many more papers.
I don’t subscribe to the Nuremberg doctrine whereby ‘following orders’ is not a defence – living in Aldershot and knowing many Army personnel, leaving the forces simply isn’t an option for most.
Any outrage we feel against the adventurism in Iraq and Afghanistan (which is felt by the majority of the forces who have been sent there – it’s not confined to the Muslim community) should be directed at the politicians who put our forces in the situation.
But why on earth didn’t the police simply arrest the demonstrators for behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace? There were only 20 or so of them, and a quick trip to the cells followed by a few cautions would have kept the situation from deteriorating.
Instead, two arrests were made – both of them outraged citizens who objected to the disrespect shown to our troops.
If someone is prepared to work for crap wages with poor equipment, putting their life on the line in my name, then they are worthy of respect, no matter whether the reasons why they are sent into peril are right or wrong.
The people who deserve no respect are those who take over
This story is primarily about rabble rousing media. I think most of us would have hoped that by 2009 things would have got better.
Some years ago, during
What would happen if the troops said “look old chap I dont beleive in this war/deployment I think I’ll wait till something that suits my political views comes along” we would have no creditable defense.
The way forward for the Muslim protesters is perhaps to elect a govt: that will remove our troops from these “illegal wars” Is that BNP policy? Also I find it hard to swallow that when the arab/muslim world wants the infidells help they will openly take it, The balkans springs to mind.
If the US and britain leave Iraq will the suicide bombing stop? will attacks on Europe stop if its that easy lets leave next week.
But I do find that most people feel that the muslim world wants all the benifits of this (once) fine country ie welfare state and freedom of speech but only when it suits them.
If the troops said “I don’t believe in this war’ then we would have a creditable and credible defence force: one which won’t murder indiscriminately just because they have been told to, and one which won’t throw its own life away equally indiscriminately only in order to fulfill someone else’s money agenda.
The Armed Forces are pretty unique: in their hands alone weapons have been placed – a right to bear arms being denied to the majority of the British public – and therefore do have a very, very strong moral code to which they must adhere. People often see those in the Armed Forces as automatons, the blindly obedient; being that they have the power of life and death ought they not to just as morally upright as those in the medical profession? Do they not have as great a responsibility to humanity in the taking of life as those who seek to preserve it? As Edmund Burke said: the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.
I’m not quite sure what you mean on muslims electing their own government, BNP etc. – would you mind clarifying that point?
Stella Rimington, former head of MI5 stated categorically a year or so ago that she attributed the increase in suicide bomb attacks and general outbreaks of militancy to the Iraq/Afghanistan wars. But withdrawing from Iraq is not that simple now, unfortunately: the country itself has been so entirely obliterated by the relentless Allied onslaught that a humanitarian disaster comparable to 1980s Ethiopia potentially awaits.
Most people do have the point of view that the Muslims settling in the UK are out for what they can get; I’d say that that is only partially true of those who *entered the UK in the last 12 years*. Those who emigrated to Britain after the end of partition, who have watched their children and grandchildren grow up British and join the army themselves and take jobs in local and national government, schools and finance and the private sector, have worked extraordinarily hard to build their businesses and homes. I used to be a private tutor to Bengali children whose parents were incredibly determined that they would get on in the world and do the very best that they could. They weren’t brought up with the attitude that they could demand anything and everything and give back absolutely nothing in return. Discrimination against British Asians is worse than its ever been precisely, I think, because the government has insisted on drawing attention to their minority status at every opportunity and trying to make them feel grateful for ‘positive discrimination’ which they didn’t ask for in the first place.
Hello Mara,
You know, one of the things that a ‘coloured’ skin does, is identify someone as an ‘outsider’ of the past 100 years. Bear with me, I lived in Brixton for a long time, I do know of which I speak.
Unfortunately, short of a tattoo on the forehead, there is no way of differentiating between an outsider who arrived last week, and one who was born here but whose grandfather arrived 100 years ago. That I believe is the crux of the matter. I know many people living in the Brixton area that could easily be described a racist – and yet when you get to know them, you will find they have many friends who have coloured skin; some have businesses with many valued employees who have coloured skin. If you ask them to explain this anomaly they will say ‘ah, but George, or Winston, or Ahmed, is ‘different’ – he was born here, or he is a damn fine worker, whereas ‘that black ba**ard’ whats he ever done for this country. – and they are off and running on the racist nonsense.
I came to two conclusions, one that it is not the colour of someones skin that is the problem, it is a perception of them as someone who has recently arrived in this country, a ‘gatecrasher’ if you like, who ought to have his ‘head down’, as they say, behave himself and have due deference to the host; and two, since there is no easy way of differentiating between these ‘gatecrashers’ other than a subconscious sense that probably if they have coloured skin they may well be a newcomer, and if you haven’t been introduced to them or perhaps employed them, then an assumption that since you don’t know any better, you might as well assume that they are a newcomer.
I actually think that true colour prejudice is very, very, rare.
What is very, very, common is an expectation of how new arrivals in ones house who you haven’t personally invited to the party ought to behave towards you. That includes not abusing the forces of that country when they return from a tour of duty.
Sadly, in an overpopulated country, it is impossible to be on first name terms with everybody, so a shorthand has arisen. Those who look like you probably are like you. Those who look different probably arrived last week on the underside of the Eurostar.
If a few dozen anti war protesters of patently long standing English stock had demonstrated in Luton I doubt that it would even have made the local news, never mind the national news.
Give them an appearance that instantly puts them in the ‘probably arrived last week on the underside of the Eurostar’ bracket – and you get an instant response – not to their colour or race – but to their perception as gatecrashers, new arrivals, and the bile rises in a thousand gullets, and a thousand other voices shout out in anger…….
‘What’s it got to do with you, if you don’t like it go back where you came from……..’ – an identical reaction to the one you would have if gatecrashers to your house started to criticise your decor, or the food you had provided.
Until this government is prepared to have an honest conversation with its citizens on the basis of their resentment at not only being asked to accept a million or so none too well behaved gatecrashers in their house, but also being labeled racist whenever they mutter in discontent, then I don’t believe it will get any better.
Personally I don’t think there is anyone as racist as this government which assumes that British Citizens are only capable of disliking people based on the colour of their skin.
I think the UK Government is encouraging as much civil unrest in society as possible ………………. so that they can bring in the new laws sooner rather than later.
Civil Unrest…
I say old chap, I must disagree with your politics.
I beg to differ, I am capable of disliking people based on….
Geographical location in England.
Football team supported.
Which arm they wear their wristwatch on.
TV programmes watched.
And numerous others.
If anybody ever saw me out with my friends ……………… they would compare us to Brad and Angela’s family. Sometimes there are rarely more than three of us that are the same shade.
I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a very close friend who happens to be the son of Jamaican immigrants.
Neither he nor I have any time for racists – but he sees racism not just as a white problem, but one that exists in his own community. There are black racists, and he refuses to have anything to do with them, having been brought up to treat everyone with respect until they give him reason to think otherwise – much the same as my own upbringing.
My problem is that I can’t treat people who refuse to engage with Britain and Britishness with the same respect that I treat people who choose to integrate, work hard and make a life for themselves and their families.
I am proud to count among my friends some good people of all races and religions, who can separate their own personal identities from the colours of their skins, and just get along with life in Britain.
The 20 or so idiots who demonstrated against the troops don’t represent the Muslims that I know and like, but they have done their community a great disservice by their actions, and fed the ignorant and the fearful who are likely to cause trouble when they don’t have to go out in the cold to do so.
Mara, I love you dearly, I really do, you write, on occasion, some beautiful stuff, full of righteous libertarian indignation at the totalitarian instincts of our lords and masters. It is a delight to read, illustrated and cross-referenced as it is by historical quotation and a tracing of the roots and lineage of our rights and freedoms.
But those freedoms weren’t handed to us on a plate, nor were they won on the battlefield of rhetoric. They were torn from the grasp of despots and would-be dictators by the selfless bloody sacrifice of the predecessors of the very men you now so insult as being indiscriminate murderers.
Every now and then, if you’ll forgive me for saying so, you come out with a load of complete bollocks.
Regardless of opinions. These people broke the law and the police should have arrested them before the parade started.
“The Public Order Act 1986 (Section 4a) refers to those who display any writing, sign, or other visible representation which is threatening abusive or insulting, with intent to cause a person harassment, alarm or distress. Section 5 refers to offensive conduct – using slogans or language that causes distress – after a warning from a police officer.
If the situation had been reversed and it was a group of BNP demonstrators with insulting Muslim placards…how long do you think they would have been standing there?
About ten minutes. Then they would have been arrested and charged ………….. The Press would have had a field day and millions of Brits would have been out on the streets in the next few weeks to show their support.
Of course ………… the millions would not have been marching with banners …………… They would have just been going about their daily business and muttering amongst their own chums about the state of the nation ……………… but their support would have been strong and gathering strength with everybody that they came across.
By the time they arrived home they would feel smug in the knowledge that they were right.
I was overwhelmed to see a group of thirty-somethings and elderly chaps wearing baseball hats at a fund-raiser recently. As i looked closely at the little badges on their hats I read the words ‘Enoch was Right’.
They were all white. And all much further right than I expected in the sleepy gentle village where they all congregate for tennis and cricket.