London Marathon Prevents Londoners Going About Their Lives

Londoners were prevented from going freely about their business on Sunday, as roads were closed, when 50,000 runners in the London Marathon occupied some of the roads for several hours. Christians seeking to cross the road to get to their local church, people wanting to get to their local pub, and others were told that it was unreasonable for them to be able to simply disregard the barriers, and to simply try to walk through the 50,000 runners. That was particularly the case given that some of those trying to do so so, were also known to be hostile to the event itself.

This restriction on Londoners freedom came just a day after police had also told a Jewish man, Gideon Falter, of the pro-Zionist, Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, who similarly wanted to walk through a large demonstration protesting against the Zionist genocide going on in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. In an edited video released by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, who just happened to also have someone there to witness, the confrontation between Mr. Falter and the police, he was seen being told not to do so, before being arrested. What the video omitted, but was shown in a further video, released to Sky News, was that before that, the police offered to escort him by a different route across to the synagogue, he said he wanted to get to, but that he refused. As he said, why should he have to do that, and similarly, why should not people be free to walk across the path of people running the London Marathon?

Why would anyone think that someone trying to do that, having brought someone along to film them doing so, was simply trying to be provocative? God forbid such a thought. In fact, I am all in favour of having such events policed and marshalled by their organisers. I doubt that had Mr. Falter simply wanted to merge into the demonstration, and make his way across it to the other side, he would have had any problem. There were after all many other “visibly Jewish” people taking part in the demonstration against Zionist atrocities, and one more would have attracted no attention.

What would have attracted attention, of course, would be if someone was protesting against the march itself, was shouting anti-Palestinian or pro-Zionist remarks, defending the genocide being committed against Palestinians. What that would have provoked is not a response against someone for being Jewish, but as with someone protesting against the Marathon, by trying to march through it, of simply being a bit of a dick. In the case of someone vociferously protesting in favour of the Zionist genocide against Palestinians, or seeking to deny its existence, rather like Nazi Holocaust deniers, it would not be surprising if the response to that was itself rather forceful.