Protestos de grupos de extrema direita em áreas com alta diversidade étnica são provocações, mas proibir tais atos pode ter efeitos indesejáveis. Josh Black analisa a proibição dos protestos da Liga de Defesa Inglesa em Londres.
Members of the English Defence League march in Luton
O caso
As minorias étnicas correspondem a quase 35% dos habitantes de Waltham Forest, um bairro no leste de Londres, onde a maior parte dessas minorias vive em na região de Walthamstow. No dia 1 de setembro de 2012 a Liga de Defesa Inglesa (LDI), que faz campanha contra o extremismo islâmico mas é frequentemente acusada de ser uma organização racista, fez planos para protestar ao longo da região de Walthamstow até o edifício na administração pública local. Os moradores, por sua vez, organizaram uma contra-manifestação e bloquearam o caminho da manifestação da LDI, levando a polícia a cancelar esta e pedir que a contra-manifestação se dispersasse.
Após a interrupção do protesto, a LDI declarou sua intenção de voltar a Walthamstow em outra data. A administração pediu e conseguiu obter uma ordem da Secretaria de Estado para restringir a manifestação da LDI, permitindo apenas manifestações estáticas (em palcos, sem caminhadas) em frente ao parlamento em Westminster. Os moradores de Walthamstow, por sua vez, receberam permissão somente para manifestações estáticas no próprio bairro. Alguns moradores avaliaram as restrições como injustas, definindo a intervenção da polícia como “um vergonhoso ataque contra a democracia local”.
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People protest in order to have their voices heard, to bring awareness to their cause. I believe that we should protect the rights to march in protest of all citizens. However, the law should and does protect all citizens from acts of violence and damage too. I feel that although we should conserve everyone’s right to protest in marches, we should also take precautions in situations where citizens would likely get harmed and property get damaged. Therefore the protestors should be able to march, but have a designated route on which they walk with police constantly monitoring the march. Should something go wrong, the police could would immediately intervene and take control of the situation.
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I believe this to be a more complex problem than some may think. My own belief is that we should protect the rights to march in protest of all citizens. However the rule of law should and does protect all citizens from acts of violence and criminal damage. A great number of EDL members attend these marches for the trill of getting high on drink or drugs and participating in such recreational violence and criminal damage. The whole ethos of “football hooliganism” as morphed into the new Islamaphobia. Though they may make do with any minority individual as a target of recreational hate; if there’s no Muslims at hand. We should still try to give them as much freedom of speech as possible. The EDL and the majority of the British public are feeling sorry for themselves now that we have the ‘time of austerity’ . They fear Muslims and the dreaded foreigner are costing them money; however the EDL and yobbos generically are , with great pride wasting the budget allocated for just about everything. It cost a vast fortune to deal with yobbos; don’t worry about foreign aid, worry about yobbos. We also have the other end of the problem; the “Muslim Extremist” and any other groups to whom we should give the same rights to march and protest; but with the same rules that forbid violence or criminal damage. I also emphatically believe we should have the greatest freedom press possible. I have used many web sites and news channels, that most of the British public have not bothered with; and I have learned a great deal. We will certainly see more terrorist attacks, more diversity of method, and greater longevity. It would seem to me that it takes “two to tango” as they say. Albeit the authorities have played a disingenuous and sometimes exasperating role; now we have ‘down to earth’ enthusiasts who are genuinely keen to make Britain as violent as Syria; in the name of cheap larger.