Photo: Dan Hodgson (Flickr)
Scotland Yard have rejected the application of a radical Islamist group to protest on the streets of London during the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The group, Muslims Against Crusades (MAC), who have already squared up with police over poppy-burning on Armistice Day, wanted to protest outside Westminster Abbey, which is expected to attract thousands well wishers on the day.
I read this and considered it the end of the matter. There’s always someone there to cause trouble, but I thought that, since they had applied for permission, they would accept the outcome and either protest somewhere else or on another day. But, some casual research into the group and their plans forced me to realise how wrong I had been.
The Muslims Against Crusades website is appalling. Their homepage (which was as far as I needed to go) shows a smiling picture of Prince William next to a dying Afghan child and a picture of William and a swastika-wearing Harry, captioned: “his best man is a Nazi”. Underneath, there is a countdown timer, counting down the seconds until the group disrupt the Royal Wedding and make it a “nightmare”. So much for their denied application to protest.
So all of a sudden, the view of them being rational demonstrators who have every right to go out and voice their opinions has turned into them being radical extremists who are hell bent on ruining, in their own words, “the day the nation has been dreaming of”. To make something a nightmare, you don’t just peacefully protest. I am now starting to reconsider my plans for that day; I personally don’t want to find myself in a crowd of people who, out of the blue, turn from bystanders into violent protesters. Not necessarily because I don’t agree with them or their right to protest, but because that is not why I’m travelling 200 miles to London. I am not for one minute saying that all members of the group, or all Muslims are violent and want to cause trouble, but, as we have seen from recent history, it is clear that protests, no matter how peacefully they are planned, have a tendency to end in mayhem. A proposed counter-protest from the English Defence League that aims to “protect the wedding” with a “ring of steel”, and the MAC’s own website, serve as proof of this.
Personal motives aside, imagining that I was not going to London and therefore was out of harm’s way, I would still be hoping that the MAC fail to carry out their plans. Apart from causing huge security issues for the police, the MAC, in my view, are acting, and have acted, in a hypocritical and unreasonable way.
In the past, the MAC has burnt poppies on Armistice Day, which is meant to be the day on which we celebrate the lives of those who fought to protect us. The freedoms that we enjoy in this country only exist because of those who put their lives on the line to defend them. One of those freedoms is the freedom of expression, a freedom which they used to burn the poppies that represent those lives that were lost. Burning the poppy is disrespectful to all those soldiers and civilians who died defending us and our future, whether it be on the beaches of Normandy or in the fields of Helmand.
It is easy to see how actions like these, and the proposed chaos for next weekend, give people a negative view of all Muslims, which is unfair and frankly irresponsible of the MAC. They undermine their views and beliefs by acting in this way, by using a picture of a burning Union Flag on their website. People quickly take the attitude that if you want to enjoy the freedoms of this country; they ought to respect our values and traditions, of which the Royal family and the Union Flag are important features.
Luckily, I watch enough news to know that this is a small group of radicals, but it is a shame that they violence and nastiness is being aimed at what should be a sunny, enjoyably and happy day, not a nightmare. You don’t have to be Royal Family Number One Fan to appreciate Kate’s dress, the Royal Mews, the Choral ceremony, or even just a long and sunny weekend, and it seems a shame that I could almost write the following weeks’ headlines.
In the time I have spent writing this, I have gone from still being excited to going to London, to seriously doubting my safety. What a shame that I can’t feel safe in the Capital on such a hugely anticipated day of celebration.
I just hope that I’m overestimating the chaos, and that this doesn’t spark an unfair and irrational hate campaign against all Muslims, many of whom will be joining the estimated 2 billion viewers who are expected to tune in to watch and enjoy the celebrations, as well as those well wishers lining the Mall.
Lizzie Hepworth
Statisfied 