Armistice Day

The Pro-Palestinian march should not be allowed to go ahead on Armistice Day

Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Sunday, is commemorated every year on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, to mark the armistice signed between the allies of World War 1 and Germany. Since then, in the UK, we historically stand and observe a two-minute silence to think of the many soldiers who lost their lives fighting for us; nothing has ever significantly disrupted it or threatened to disrupt it. Until now. A recent FOA (Friends of Al-Aqsa) poster on Tik-Tok calls for a Million March For Palestine, which is planned to take place in London on this exact day. While the right to peaceful protest remains, we know that to date these pro-Palestine protests have not been peaceful and have been poorly policed. This demonstration may be crossing the line into the realm of unacceptability.

The protest is in response to the Gaza offensive and the PSC (the Palestine Solidarity Campaign) have announced numerous locations where it will take place; eight are in London, one of which is just a few hundred metres away from the Cenotaph, our national war monument. Unfortunately, these protests have been allowed to go ahead and here is what the Met said:

‘Officers will be deployed across London on the 11 and 12 of November as part of a significant policing and security operation’.

‘The protest organisers have not indicated any plans to protest on Remembrance Sunday. They do intend to hold a demonstration on Saturday (11th), but they are engaging with our officers’.

What a relief; thank God we will have some protection from these lunatics. But given the recent efforts by the Met to keep us safe during recent protests, this is still worrying. They have failed to do their job already and have been clearly observed protecting protesters against the likelihood of any counter protests. Given their poor response to events this weekend in London, it is highly likely they will do the same again. Also, ‘engaging with our officers’ is not promising. How do you ‘engage’ with people who seem to be beyond reason and who have a record, to date, of demonstrating that?

Although protesting is a human right in the UK, promoting violence and jumping on monuments and buildings in London on any day, but especially on a day that is historic and important to the country should not be justifiable. It looks suspiciously like an act of provocation by, let’s face it, people being led and cajoled by Islamic fundamentalists, many calling for Jihad and the total destruction of Israel. Contrast that with the situation where someone who is not connected with Islam offends Muslims in the UK such as defacing the Quran, even accidentally. It has recently happened. A boy with autism at a school in Wakefield received death threats after bringing a copy of the Quran into his school and accidentally dropping it. The school suspended him and even apologised to the people who were ‘affected’ by this, and the West Yorkshire police (who have a great deal of ‘form’ in this regard) sat in on an illegal kangaroo Sharia court where the boy was threatened, and his mother has humiliated.

Feelings are running high over the situation in Gaza. The ghastly slaughter of innocent Israelis has been followed by Israeli prosecuted widespread destruction and death in Gaza. People have a right to be upset about both of these things but the war between Israel and Hamas should not be allowed to be played out on our streets. If protests much take place then the pro-Palestinian protesters could take a leaf out of the book of the pro-Israeli protesters who held a peaceful vigil and sang songs in Parliament Square at the weekend.

Pro-Palestinians should be prevented from disrupting an important day for British people too. The Million March For Palestine is an insult to our country and very upsetting to those people who are connected to the armed forces and who have lost loved ones during our wars. It should not be allowed to proceed.