Pretty reasonable questions.

1) who exactly would they be protesting to, I don't think IS is has a UK office? Is the UK condoning or exploiting Islamist terrorism?
2) Again, how exactly would protest in the UK affect change in Zimbawe? Is the UK government not taking any action, or joined in the sanctions.
3) Reasonable, but again it kind of misses the point that who exactly would they be marching against and trying to leverage in the UK government.
4) Does North Korea even have a Embassy in the UK to picket? Does the UK have a diplomatic relationship with the North Koreans.
5) Similar with Venezula, I'm pretty sure that there isn't really much you could achieve in the UK.

Traditionally, you march in protest to affect change in your country. I never really understood the idea of protesting about things you've got no capacity to influence like a foreign nation - The idea generally is to leverage change in the UK, by influencing your government.

Way I saw it, the protesting of South Africa was about getting the UK Government to switch its support away from South Africa, not about trying to affect change in the country directly.

Protesting oppressive regimes, when your thousands of miles away, and your government is condoning them, isn't really sensible.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

And you won't find me defending those c**ts either. I'm curious as to how that parallel gets drawn - I'm now somehow pro-Islamist terrorism.

My issue has always been more about how that gets equated so easily on the far right into 'all Muslims' to fit their agenda.

Oddly I'm pretty much on record here of being against uncontrolled immigration.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

1. They could try a number of mosques that support them. Could also get the Muslim Council of Britain to do more, or indeed anything, about Islamic extremism in the UK.
2. Well, members of the left spent half their lives protesting about apartheid South Africa, what's the difference.
3. Ditto 2.
4. Their embassy is in New Malden! My sister used to live near it - until she joined the white flight from Greater London.
5. Well, again they protested about Pinochet's Chile, what's the difference.

You know as well as I do, that the left will only protest against things they see as right wing, the actual goings on can be the same or indeed worse, but they will turn a blind eye if the perpetrators are not on their hate list.

On your last point, you mean like the anti Vietnam War demos in the UK?

Edited by hedgehog50 (15 Aug 2017 4.14pm)

We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. [Orwell]

Not saying that.
I'm saying that the Left does not demonstrate against Islamists in the same way as they have the Far Right.
I'd have thought that Islamist behaviour should be as abhorrent to the Left as to the Right and even more abhorrent than the Far Right.

Forty years ago, wow, where does time go. I remember there old HQ down Pawsons Road, we would throw stones at the shutters on the way to school , all kinds of weirdos staying in there . They seem to have left the area around the time of the Terry May murder, can never remember them being anywhere near Palace at the time, surprised because other clubs were seen as ripe for recruitment.
Ran into them again in the summer of 80/81 in The Bedford Park in Streatham, I was seeing a barmaid in there , so was in there quite a bit. A complete load of tosspots, most of the hierarchy were perverted old leeches ,

Last 2 posts, great to have accounts from people what were around at the time. Thanks, that's what I was hoping for in this thread, not the I'm harder than you type gibbonjizz that it descended into.