Seasoned political pundits are increasingly warning of the danger of a backlash from the normally quiet and long-suffering British public if steps are not soon taken to restrict political demonstrations which freqently clog British cities (especially London).
I watched the BBC News channel on August 5th as a reporter attempted to deliver a news report from the throng of the latest London "peace demonstration" - but this was no 'peace demonstration,' as usual the demonstrators - thousands of people (perhaps 10,000, but certainly not the 100,000 claimed by protest march organizers) - were attacking George Bush, Tony Blair and the Israeli government. Even as the reporter tried to give his message to British viewers, he was being shouted down by those who want to see the annihilation of Israel. Indeed, huge sections of the crowd openly supported hezbollah, and war against Israel. This sort of thing infuriates most Brits. It was only a matter of months ago when a huge and very ugly demonstration opposed to the Iraqi war also went through London. On that occasion banners were held high by extremist muslims showing support for the suicide bombers who had brought havoc to London in July, 2005. This caused public outrage in the British Isles.
An earlier demonstration paralyzes a popular tourist area of London. While agreeing that demonstrations cannot be banned in a free society, is it not time for new laws to curb the numbers involved? Moreover, the public burning of the flags of the western democracies should now be made an arrestable offence.
Many believe that such demonstrations are a vital 'safety valve' in any free society, but surely such freedoms can be taken too far. Public demonstrations of such a political nature should surely be restricted to no more than 300 people - this is not such a terrible thing to suggest, after all, if such demonstrators attempted to demonstrate in the countries of the governments which they apparently support, they would very quickly be arrested in many cases! Such outward displays of political feeling must never end in a free society, but the time for new legislation in order to restrict the numbers involved is very long overdue. The problem is that when thousands go on to the streets, mob rule and the rule of the thug quickly takes over and all form of moderation is lost!
Especially worrying that militant Islam (that political form of Islam which sees itself at war with the West, even though the West has given a home to millions of its adherents), was again clearly represented in the August 5th demonstration in London. There is an urgent need for modern democratic society to get across the message that to live in a democracy and to enjoy the rights of such a democracy should not be abused, on the contrary, certain responsibilies come with it. Many see common cause with societies which have never given two hoots about democracy or about freedom and, through this influence, are only able to perceive a liberal democracy as a weakness which must be exploited in order to further aims which most of us in the West would consider despicable aims, whether those aims are to annihilate Israel, or to bring economic chaos to the West.
The Christian Hawk, August, 2006.