The atrocities of 7 Oct 2023 against Israelis were unspeakably evil. Whatever opinions anyone may have about the subsequent conduct of Israel in their war against Hamas, to go out and protest against Israel on such an anniversary is a disgraceful contempt of the victims, their families, friends and Jews everywhere. People should stay at home.
I find we live at a time when Jews in our own country feel it is increasingly unsafe to be here. One friend says he and his family now keep bags packed in case they must leave at no notice. In their own home. In the UK. And they are not alone.
The Met police have responded to calls to ban the protest, setting out their position here: they have urged the student organisers of today’s protest to hold their march on a different day. It is a sensible statement of the police position and I commend it to you. In particular, they do not have the power to stop protests and there is a high bar to asking the Home Secretary to stop one.
We have absolutely no desire to police culture wars or wars of words between opposing groups. That is very clearly not our role.
– Met Police statement
In a free society, that is the right policy. Meanwhile in Gosport,
Police have placed a dispersal order on the whole town of Gosport as preparations continue to be made for a possible migrant boat landing.
The police statement says,
Under Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, those seeking to gather will be directed to a designated area which is inside Walpole car park outlined in the map labelled ‘Section 14’. This order is in place until 4pm on Monday, 5 October. Failure to comply with these conditions is a criminal offence and may result in arrest.
Face coverings are banned and the dispersal order means people can be required to leave the area under criminal penalty.
As I found on TalkTV this morning, and previously, common sense people are bound to juxtapose the two circumstances: a disgraceful protest in contempt of victims of atrocity on the one hand and on the other, banning people from protesting the arrival of illegal migrants.
It is a toxic situation in an increasingly polarised society: what is going on?
