Today, I went to my first ever protest and it was quite the experience! As we marched through the city centre of Liverpool, we were tailed by police officers and weekend shoppers gawped at us. Quite frankly, we were a disruption to the status quo (interrupting a busy commercial weekend) and thus we were treated by the authorities as a public nuisance. It really made me think just how controlled and conditioned we are as a society.
I don’t want to get into the politics too much, but we were protesting on behalf of Palestine, encouraging members of the public to boycott businesses that sold products made in Israel, as these products essentially help to fund their oppression of Palestine. So we marched through the city centre to the various businesses affiliated with Israel and protested outside their doors, trying to spread awareness of the Israel/Palestine conflict.
At first, we were only tailed by a pair of police liason officers, but they soon called for backup. It amazed me to see how the authorities responded to our peaceful protest, treating us like we were troublemakers and a public nuisance. The security men at each of the stores refused to let us indoors, presumably because we might deter customers from buying their products, but surely it is up to consumers to make an informed decision?
Anyway, I don’t blame the authorities because they’re just pawns in all this, serving and preserving the capitalist agenda. In fact, one police officer somehow thought that we were doing a health and safety campaign!! Surely that’s not what his superiors told him??
What struck me about this protest is that freedom of speech really is dead. If you stand against the system in any way, then you’re branded as a crazy person or a troublemaker. But you shouldn’t let that deter you from fighting for what you believe in. If nobody stands up for what is right, then the powers-that-be will continue to trample on us. A protest must be ongoing and it must be relentless until something is done about the problem. For as long as the human spirit prevails, there will always be people who speak out against the bullshit.
Ignite the Light 