Bartholomew's Notes

Once again, the cry has gone up demanding the reform of libel law in the UK. And as ever, I’m more than happy to join the chorus – although I’m not expecting much to actually happen. For two years now now, the world has been disgusted by judgements and threats that have hampered the critical scrutiny of Saudi billionaires; however, despite various meetings and complaints, no reforms have so far been undertaken.

This year it’s science journalist Simon Singh, who is supposed to have committed libel by suggesting that the British Chiropractic Association promotes “bogus”  treatments. According to Justice Eady, this amounts to saying that chiropractors are involved in deliberate deception.

A high-profile statement has now been released:

…Singh holds that chiropractic treatments for asthma, ear infections and other infant conditions are not evidence-based. Where medical claims to cure or treat do not appear to be supported by evidence, we should be able to criticise assertions robustly and the public should have access to these views.

English libel law, though, can serve to punish this kind of scrutiny and can severely curtail the right to free speech on a matter of public interest…Freedom to criticise and question in strong terms and without malice is the cornerstone of scientific argument and debate, whether in peer-reviewed journals, on websites or in newspapers, which have a right of reply for complainants. However, the libel laws and cases such as BCA v Singh have a chilling effect, which deters scientists, journalists and science writers from engaging in important disputes about the evidential base supporting products and practices. The libel laws discourage argument and debate and merely encourage the use of the courts to silence critics.

Indeed – and if even scientific enquiry can be curtailed in this way, where does that leave argument and debate about other matters of public interest? Even if you’re confident that your writing is truthful, non-malicious, and in the public interest, if your subject is wealthy or has access to friendly lawyers who can fire off letters on his or her behalf (as Donal Blaney did for Paul Staines against Tim Ireland, in typical Tory pseudo-libertarian style), then holding your ground can be a huge risk.

In the USA, there is a “public person” distinction, which protects critical scrutiny of anyone who chooses to enter a public controversy. That would be one very specific measure that could be taken.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

A website announces a “March of Repentance” beginning in London’s Hyde Park, to take place on 18 July. Here’s why:

When we look at our nation we see a society in a state of collapse. It’s just like the prophet Hosea observed about Israel all those years ago: no truth, no mercy, no knowledge of God in the land, just swearing and lying and stealing and committing adultery…Hosea said the land would mourn, he said God’s judgment would fall on agriculture, fishing and industry. He said if people forget the laws of God, He would forget their children. Corporate greed has brought judgment on our whole economy, just as the prophet said, family life is disintegrating, disrespect for civilised standards of behaviour and even for life itself is increasing.

…Since the Garden of Eden, unregenerate man has rebelled against God. But evil got a big boost in the 60’s. In 1969, fresh from driving through the laws which have devalued human life, destroyed the family and exalted ungodly sex, the then Home Secretary Roy Jenkins said ‘the permissive society is the civilised society’. It does not look very civilised to those who have fallen victim to it.

…We are repenting of our own inactivity and silence, our lack of courage and faith in His word, our unwillingness to speak out ‘in the great congregation’ and our failure to discharge our responsibility to pray and witness with the mind of God into our nation.

The website is registered to Christian Voice, although there’s no mention of Stephen Green anywhere – instead, the prime mover appears to be a certain Steve McCreery, of Cardiff, who gives some background in comments left at another website in November:

One thing dear brothers and sisters in Christ that is becoming increasingly apparent and echoed through a number of Prophetic words is the need for believers, the bride of Christ, to unite in humble repentance and agonise for mercy against the wind of judgement coming upon our nation. To reverse the curse of the prevalent jezebel spirit and come clean before God. There is a planned March of Repentance next July 18th 2009 in London; prayerfully consider joining…The march is being organised by Chris Rowley (Elim), Christian Voice and hosted by Christian Concern for our Nation. It is open cross denominationally to any believer who has a heart and passion to redeem this nation…

I blogged on Christian Concern for our Nation here. The “Jezebel Spirit” is supposedly a demonically-prompted attitude of rebellion against God, usually seen as working through women who take a leadership role over men. On a comment to another site again, McCreery adds:

…While the gods of this age are in their death throes and there is increasing despair, fear and hopelessness in the nation, believers are assured that our God is sovereign and in control. It could be anticipated that there will be growing opportunities for harvesting these searching souls; but the question is … is the church in it’s present state really ready? Knowing that indeed this country is reaping what it has been sowing over the decades especially since the Festival of Light then Gods judgment is evident. Surely in line with our belief that Judgment begins within the household of God (1.Peter4:17) then we need to unite in contrite and repentant hearts before His throne of Grace and plead for God to withhold and ‘hear our prayers and heal the land’ (2Chron7-14) A growing number of committed believers recognising this trumpet call for repentance and are joining with the saints in a planned National March next year Sat.11thJuly in Central London. It will not be a procession of an outward exhibition of any kind of extroversion but more a solemn gathering of sincere saints representing the wide body of Christ showing unity in repentance before God. Just imagine, 1000’s of silent folk, walking together and following a large wooden Cross, no fanfare. A representative delegation ( especially youth) will present a statement of repentance to No.10 Downing St… and the March will culminate a rally at the end. (possibly with a representative from the Festival of Light handing a baton over.) So ‘ if my people who are called by my name…’ (2Chron7:14) will heed the call for repentance, we on the planning committee of the March would welcome your comments,support and participation in this significant movement of Gods people in such a time as this.

The “Festival of Light” was a Christian rally against permissiveness in the early 1970s. It looks as though the “March of Repentance” seeks to be the heir both of this, and, in its Charismatic language, of the 1980s “March for Jesus” events. As the official website declares:

We believe a march is a public witness, a testimony, a territorial statement (yes we can do this here!), and a spiritual declaration rolled into one. The children of Israel laid claim to Jericho by marching before they blew the trumpets on the final day.

Curiously, despite the vision of “1000’s of silent folk”, the March of Repentance website carries in large red letters the bullish message “Silent no longer!” However, we’re promised that the event will not be “a pious or self-righteous exhibition”.

The website highlights the social problems of “violence”, “ungodly laws”, lawlessness”, and “immorality”, as well as the attitudes of  “compromise”, “lack of interest”, “misplaced hope” (illustrated by the famous Obama “Hope” picture), and “churchianity” (illustrated by a cathedral, and obviously a dig at mainline Christianity). A “Why Repent?” section adds contributions from several sources, including this list:

• Rejecting our Christian heritage
• Rejecting our laws that were based on Biblical standards and replacing them with laws directly opposed to Biblical principles
• Failing to uphold the value of the conventional family life and failing to raise our children with proper loving discipline
• The church being too ready to compromise with the world and to be influenced by its ways rather than taking a stand for Biblical principles and preaching them clearly and unapologetically
• A readiness to mock all the great institutions of our nation.

There’s also a reposting of Rev. Joe Wright’s famous 1996 Jeremiad, delivered in the Kansas House of Representatives:

…We’ve lost our spiritual equilibrium. We have inverted our values. We have ridiculed the absolute truth of your word in the name of moral pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.

We’ve exploited the poor and called it a lottery. We’ve neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. In the name of choice, we have killed our unborn. In the name of right to life, we have killed abortionists.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it taxes. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment…

Christian Zionism is also a theme:

We have a book about about a Jew, written by Jews, who through incarnation has fulfilled Jewish prophecies and is coming to rule and reign, not in London, Paris or New York but in Jerusalem. The Church must stand by the Jewish people.

Another part of the site has a list of supporters; George Hargreaves of the Christian Party (whom I blogged here and here, and who won’t be pleased by the Welsh flag  not far below his name) is near the top, and there are a couple of prominent American entries – none other than David Wilkerson (we’re still waiting for the imminent “earth-shattering calamity” he prophesied in March, by the way) and James M. Hutchens, who runs the JerUSAlem Connection. As I’ve blogged more than once, Hutchens’ Christian Zionism is particularly militant, and monomaniacal to the point that it’s semi-detached from historic forms of Christianity.

There’s also an “International” section, which tells us of “interest from a number of countries in doing their own marches”. So far there’s just one entry, which takes us to the website of Prophet Elmore Richmond Jr., of Revelation Of Jesus Christ Ministries, Jackson, Tennessee. According to his own site,

God revealed to Prophet Elmore Richmond Jr. the destruction of the World Trade Center before it happened and our preparation for war.  God has revealed to him the destruction to come if we fail to repent.  At the direction of God, Prophet Richmond recorded these revelations and warnings in a book, titled:  “America, America: A Checkup For the Body of Christ- the Church.”  The Book was published in October 2001.  All revelations have come to pass.

Besides publishing this book, Prophet Richmond has written President George W. Bush thirteen times and all revelations have come to pass.

However, despite faithfully passing on the messages for Bush and others given to him by God, the prophet “wonders if our country’s leaders are listening.”

(Hat tip: Joel’s Trumpet)

Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

The Daily Mail has removed the article I blogged on here, which gave some background to the recent supposedly “anti-extremist” disturbance in Luton. I also understand that the reference to Glen Jenvey had been scrubbed before the whole thing was pulled.

The two main subjects of the article – anti-Muslim blogger Paul Ray (“Lionheart”) and Dave Smeeton, who heads March for England – have both complained about the piece. Smeeton left a comment on my previous blog entry on the subject:

To clear up a few facts. Yes we where in Luton on the day about 20 in all from March from England. This included my friends 2 year old who would lay the wreath at the war mamorial.
We had no involvment in the trouble. We where in fact in contact with Sgnt Lowe most of the day by phone. We did march and it was peacfull. If anyone who wants the TRUTH about my or MfE involvment on the day please contact J.Harper at Luton Council or Sgnt J Lowe at Luton Police. The Daily Mail didnt want to by the look of the smear in the paper
The Daily Mail was a hatchet job end of.
As for Glen jenvy yes he is on my friends list on facebook to be honest dont think there has been any contact since i accepted his friends request.
Photos prove that we marched and respected the Local community as we did other blog pages also report that.
I have and will continue to say the truth on any mater i am asked about. Wish others would just say the truth.
I hope this clears up any points. Will someone get in touch with Luton council or the Police to cover the fruth about MfE? No i dont think they will.

Ray, meanwhile, has been railing in typical form over on his blog, declaring that “The journalist is a TRAITOR!!!” (“Traitor” is his favourite insult). In his blog’s comments section, he adds that:

My lawyer will be looking into this next week for me.

This article could seriously jeapordise any future trial if the CPS do decide to charge me for the offence i have been on bail for, for the past 14 months.

If you were part of a jury and you read that about me, indirectly linking me to a fire bombing of a mosque, ontop of the charge, it would seriously cloud your judgement.

The author of the piece, is a vile Left Wing activist working in the media.

SHAME OF THE DAILY MAIL FOR PRINTING IT!!!

They are going to be sued to the ground by Glen Jenvey thats for sure, he played absolutely no part in anything, yet they placed him in an article ttiled: Unmasking the football hooligans behind bloody protest.

The thought of Glen Jenvey taking the stand  as victim of mispresentation is a laugh, given his recent activities. And the complaint is back-to-front: the Mail suggested that being linked to Glen Jenvey makes the alleged hooligans look bad, not the other way round! The Mail article included the claim that the mosque had received a threatening letter signed off in the name of a medieval Crusader (Reynold de Chatillon); it did not accuse Ray, and indeed it gave Ray the space to claim that the mosque had fabricated it to implicate him.

The main topic of the Mail’s article was how football hooliganism may be the key to understanding what happened. However, on comments left on this blog Smeeton has assured us that that kind of thing is far behind him:

I was a Skin head in the 70s…The 70s where the days. This is 2009 and i am an old man.

And regarding possible links to a Portsmouth hooligan group called the 6.57 Crew:

If i had any connections to the 6,57 that would have been 30 years ago.So if i had what relevence is 30 years ago?

There is no reason to doubt any of this.

However, football hooligans unconnected with Smeeton certainly do appear to have been involved in the distrubance; a posting brought to my attention on Hooligan Central (“a resource for anyone involved in the Casual Culture in the  UK, whether you are a hooligan, a retired hooligan, Sociology student, or simply love the lifestyle/clobber etc.”) links to Ray’s blog and has the following message:

British Casuals and normal people united against the peddlars of hate in Luton. Football lads from all over the country attended in a massive show of support, old football rivalries were forgotten as Brits of all colours show we are fed up of those people who want to kill us taking the piss. Please go to facebook and join the groups “Defence of the Realm, March for England and The Welsh Defence League and get involved”. Our grandfathers never fought off the Krauts so we could hand our country over to the Taliban.

There is also a picture of some of the balaclava-wearing protestors. Ray has been added to an associated Hooligan Central Facebook site “so that i could inform and educate the group members”; he  has also expressed solidarity with a local football supporters’ crew, known as the “MIGs”.

UPDATE: Ray crows:

Tim Stewart and Paul Bracch[i] have made a very serious mistake with their article and the Daily Mail editor who cleared it is accountable for allowing something so damaging to go to print.

…I hope the journalists in question have ‘perverted the course of justice’ by their actions, and that they will be charged over it, or if not this charge, then some other charge.

I know Glen Jenvey has his own case against the Daily Mail for linking him to the article for absolutely no reason at all.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

The murder of late-term abortion provider George Tiller and the arrest of a former “Montana Freeman” as a supect for the killing is currently receiving widespread blogging, so there’s not really much for me to add. Orcinus notes that the murder was on the anniversary of the capture of Eric Rudolph, and that this is the second fatal attack inside a progressive US church in recent months. Josh Rosenau, meanwhile, juxtaposes passages from the recent Department of Homeland Security report on “Rightwing Extremism” against reactions from Rep. Michele Bachmann, who (like a number of others) dismissed the document as some kind of government conspiracy against conservatives. Ed Brayton has a couple of paragraphs from someone who was at the church at the time, and contributors to Democratic Underground have been rooting around for information on Scott Roeder (var. Scott P. Roeder), who is now in custody.

Meanwhile, WorldNetDaily has re-published a recent article from its Whistleblower magazine by David Kupelian, in which the author compares pro-lifers’ complaints about anti-abortion violence to Hitler exploiting the Reichstag fire. He also claims that “that leftist leaders secretly would relish an eruption of violence on the Right”, which will be used to “justify their crackdown on conservative groups across the board – Christian, patriotic, gun-rights, pro-life, sovereignty and so on.”

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

The Daily Mail has a background piece on last week’s debacle in Luton, during which a large number of yobs (some in gimp-like black balaclavas) supposedly showed their objections to Islamic extremism by rampaging through the town, attacking Asian-owned businesses, assaulting an Asian man, and informing the police that they are “fucking left-wing fucking cunts”.

The Mail takes a sceptical look at Dave Smeeton, the leader of March for England. MfE, which I blogged here, did not organise this particular event, but Smeeton did play a role in an unofficial capacity:

‘I was very disappointed about what happened,’ Smeeton claimed. ‘Our members were not involved in the trouble. That sort of thing couldn’t have been further from our minds.’

It would be easier to believe Dave Smeeton if it were not for his unsavoury past.

It is encapsulated in a spoof advert for Dr Martens on his Facebook page, in which three skinheads are kicking a man on the floor in the head. The caption reads: ‘Kicking the f*** out of you since 1960.’

Smeeton has added, for good measure: ‘Those were the days.’ He is, after all, a former skinhead himself. He used to belong to the ‘6.57 Crew’, one of the country’s most notorious gangs of football hooligans.

I pointed this out a few weeks ago here and here; Smeeton has left a number of comments disassociating himself from violence and claiming that to draw a negative inference from his choice of Facebook images is unwarranted. He also (genuinely, in my opinion) says he is against racism. The Mail also repeats a claim that elements of the “6.57 Crew” have had links with the violently neo-Nazi Combat 18, although there is no suggestion that Smeeton would approve of such a thing.

A couple of other characters also make an appearance in the story:

Guess which organisation Paul Ray belongs to? Yes, that’s right, March for England. He took part in Sunday’s demonstration, but says he was not involved in any of the trouble. Ray calls Smeeton a ‘very good friend.’

Another link between the men is Glen Jenvey, accused by several newspapers of fabricating stories about Islamic extremism. Jenvey has eight ‘friends’ on his Facebook site; two of them are Ray and Smeeton.

Paul Ray, of course, is the local anti-Muslim blogger “Lionheart” – I’ve blogged on him several times. In days leading up to the “protest”, Ray tried to whip up support with a bogus claim that “coachloads” of Muslims were coming into the area to oppose the event. On his blog, Ray is currently defending the protestors’ behaviour (although not the assault), and he claims that a particular Asian business was attacked because of an illegal activity he alleges it is involved in. Ray, who has made statements offering qualified support for the BNP, achieved fame for a short time last year when right-wing “anti-Jihadists” in the USA decided that a police investigation into whether Ray was stirring up racial hatred meant that he was was “free speech martyr”; however, when his pro-BNP views were noticed he was quickly dropped. This led to a feud between Ray and Little Green Footballs, with Ray describing Charles Johnson as “the equivalent of a Second World War Nazi collaborator who would have been shot because of his treason”.

The Mail adds that the Luton mosque which was recently firebombed had received a threatening letter before the arson signed by “Reynold de Chatillon”; because Ray like to identify with Christian Crusaders, he claims that “The Muslims must be trying to pin the firebombing on me”.

And as for Glen Jenvey: it’s a long story, but the guts of it are here. In fact, there is overwhelming circumstantial evidence that Jenvey (a pundit on the controversial Obsession DVD) has indeed fabricated stories which he then sold to newspapers, as has been investigated extensively by Tim Ireland (with a bit of assistance from  me). Alas, though, rather fewer than “several newspapers” have so far taken up the investigation; all we’ve had are two short pieces, one in the media section of  the Guardian and the other in Private Eye. Ray denounced the evidence against Jenvey as “propaganda”, although he’s been silent on the subject more recently. Of course, there is no reason to suppose that just because he’s a Facebook contact of Smeeton that Smeeton knows much about him; Jenvey may have few Facebook links, but Smeeton has many more. Some clarification would be nice, though.

And also alas – the Daily Mail continues to use the wrong picture to illustrate the extremist Muslims who gave Ray just want he wanted (just as he has now returned the favour).

Incidentally, last month Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs praised an earlier anti-Muslim protest in Luton of the same sort as a “Pushback against Muslim Extremists in the UK”; this led to a spat with LGF. Geller has not made any comment on last weekend’s violence. She did, however, recently opine that the Mail (a conservative paper) is the “DHIMMI PRESS IN BED WITH THE ISLAMIC SUPREMACISTS”.

(Hat tip: Bloggerheads)

Filed under: Uncategorized | 15 Comments »

Pentecostal minister George Hargreaves has posters in South London explaining why voters should choose him on 4 June:

MediaWatchWatch has some fun with the dodgy sentence structure (I suggest an en rule after “BNP); Harry’s Place scoffs at the claim, and notes Hargreaves’ Christian Right agenda – I blogged his anti-gay views here. He also once famously declared that environmental protections against overfishing should be scrapped because there is “a supernatural element in the restoration of fish to our seas”.

Back in the 1980s, before his Pentecostal days, Hargreaves wrote campy songs for a singer called Sinitta. Here are his most famous opuses:

Filed under: Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

A t WorldNetDaily, a conservative US Radio host (Rusty Humphries) on the receiving end of an Islamist death threat mocks the reasoning abilities of Muslim fanatics:

He…told WND the threat highlights the Islamic fundamentalist penchant for promoting the idea of grand conspiracies.

“Everything is a huge conspiracy to the terrorists,” said Humphries. “On my many travels to the Mideast, I’ve been told by Muslims it was the Jews who sent Monica Lewinsky to Bill Clinton so the Jews could rule the U.S. The terrorists believe the West is plotting the extermination of Islam.”

Here are two books that WND is currently heavily promoting:

The former book, WND tells us, is the “incredible but true publication how the secret societies direct the courses of civilization and affect your life”, while in the latter,

Hundreds of pages, photographs and footnotes document the convergence of multinational corporations, foundations and political and social instruments to assemble a one-world government and the “New World Order.”

And let’s not get started on some of the many conspiracy theories that WND has promoted: as well as regular NWO “militia media” paranoia, particularly risible classics include one article that begins by asking “Could the Roman Catholic Church’s sex abuse crisis be tied to embedded Satanic and occultic imagery in its artwork – some of it hundreds of years old?”, and another which promotes the idea that a race of giants created the Pyramids.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

In September 2007, a magazine published by the University of Lausanne (UNIL), Allez Savoir, ran an article by Jocelyn Rochat entitled “George W. Bush et le Code Ezéchiel”. It can be seen here; it begins:

Quand il évoque la situation politique au Proche-Orient, le président des Etats-Unis voit Gog et Magog à l’oeuvre. Deux créatures qui apparaissent dans une vision apocalyptique de l’Ancien Testament! Les explications de Thomas Römer, un expert de l’UNIL qui a été contacté par l’Elysée en 2003, quand Jacques Chirac cherchait à élucider les références troublantes de George W. Bush.

The story explains how Thomas Römer, a Biblical scholar at the university (and now at the Collège de France), had been contacted by the Elysée in 2003 to explain the significance of “Gog and Magog”, two Biblical names that had been mentioned by George Bush in conversation with Jacques Chirac during Bush’s efforts to persuade France to support the Iraq war. The book of Ezekiel uses these names to signify Israel’s enemies in an apocalyptic battle. A journalist for La Liberté wrote a short piece based on the article; this was translated into English and posted to a few fringe websites, but didn’t receive a great deal of attention. Now, however, the story has come to fresh attention with the publication of a new book, written by Jean-Claude Maurice and entitled Si vous le répétez, je démentirai…: Chirac, Sarkozy, Villepin. An extract can be seen here:

George Bush Jr. a utilisé un argument singulier, affirmant que… «Gog et Magog sont à l’oeuvre au Proche-Orient» et que «les prophéties bibliques sont sur le point de s’accomplir»

Apparently, Chirac was “stupéfait”, and the author claims that the enquiry was made to Lausanne, in Switzerland, to prevent any leak. According to an article about the story on Counterpunch, Chirac “wondered how someone could be so superficial and fanatical in their beliefs”. Counterpunch  adds that Bush is also reported to have said

 This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins.

However, that line does not appear in the extract; it would have been nice to have had a specific page number for something so dramatic.

GQ recently ran a story showing that Bush had at one stage been provided with briefing papers on Iraq containing Biblical verses (general exhortations rather than prophecies); conversely, however, a new book by John Mickelthwait and Adrian Wooldridge entitled God Is Back includes the claim that in 2000 Bush characterised Christian conservatives “those whackos”, when asked whether his promotion of free trade with China might cost him the religious vote. It’s not necessarily a contradiction – he may have meant arch-conservatives who were likely to vote third-party, and he may not consider relating Biblical prophecy to current events as belonging to  the “whacko” category.

Ronald Reagan is famously said to have seen conflict with the USSR in Biblical and apocalyptic terms, based mainly on a reported private remark made in 1971. However, it seems that this was more of a “pop belief” than a serious theological conviction; during his terms of office he rejected the idea of an inevitable nuclear holocaust, despite the popularity of such a belief among American Christian premillennialists.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Two blogs have further eyewitness accounts – including some corrective material – about Sunday’s events in Luton. They are Three Counties Unity and Reconciliationtalk.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail continues to use the wrong photo to illustrate the March Islamist anti-military protest; several people have suggested to me that the photo in fact shows a birthday parade for Muhammad. I emailed the site yesterday about this mistake, and one of my readers sent in a message as well. Presumably with Monday being a Bank Holiday the Mail didn’t have anyone to hand who could  fix an error that is currently libelling a couple of dozen people and stoking anti-Muslim sentiment – the picture has now been reproduced on a couple of extreme anti-Islam sites. However, it is now after 9.00am on a working day, so even that lame excuse can no longer be used.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

In my previous blog entry I quoted the Daily Mail, but I didn’t scroll down to the end of the page. Consequently, I missed this:

The caption says “Catalyst: Anti-war Islamists protested during an Army march in Luton earlier this year – partly sparking yesterday’s response”.

However, the “anti-war Islamists” who provoked outrage in March looked like this:

Footage of that protest shows no more than ten or so protestors, all young adults dressed in dark clothing.

Unfortunately, I do not read Arabic, so I don’t know why the marchers in the first picture have taken to the streets. However, it is clearly a completely different event from the anti-Anglian protest, and it shows none of the aggravating factors which caused such anger and offence in March. Whatever its purpose, the event in the Mail‘s photo was not the “catalyst” for yesterday’s mayhem.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 20 Comments »