Oct 27th 1968 on Vietnam to Oct 28th 2023 on Gaza. The Times spots ‘outside agitators’
On 27th October 1968 100,000 demonstrators marched to Hyde Park to protest the war in Vietnam. It was organised by the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign. Tariq Ali one of the organisers was clear that the route deliberately avoided going to the US Embassy, then in Grosvenor Square. The aim of the march was not to have a punch up with the police, but a public display of large numbers protesting peacefully against war.
This did not stop the Times claiming that the march was really about violent revolt
‘A small army of militant extremists plan to seize control of certain highly sensitive installations and buildings in central London next month while 6,000 Met policemen are busy controlling an estimated crowd of 100,000 anti-Vietnam war demonstrators’
Times 5th September 1968
It was not of course, although a group of Maoist protesters did engage with police in Grosvenor Square, separate to the main march.
On 28th October 2023 a march involving far more than 100,000 people protested against military destruction in Gaza by the Israeli Army, with thousands of civilians dead and injured. The march was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and others and the aim was a mass peaceful show of solidarity with Gaza.
This did not of course stop The Times on 28th October running a front page headline ‘Iran hijacking UK protests’ The article underneath
‘Iranian agents are creating unrest in Britain by stoking Gaza protests’
There was no evidence presented about who such agents might be or how they operated. But if one read on, on page 4, the report noted that the influence of such agents was at the fringe and hence nothing at all to do with the protest on 28th October
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