March for Free Expression

Today Marci and I went to a rally in Trafalgar Square aimed at reasserting our rights to free speech and expression. It was in particular a response to the Mohammed caricature affair but also about the Jerry Springer Opera, the Behzti play about Sikhism, the government's religious hatred bill and so on. The organising website is here.

There was a mixed bunch there. Quite a lot of infidels (I think the NSS had been doing their work), but some people who support free speech not as a matter of principle, but because they have bigotted and offensive things they want to publicise. I'm fine with that, I knew we'd have to expect that and embrace it.

The big disappointment was the turn-out. I think I was less annoyed with the organisation than the apathy and short-sightedness of the general public. I told all my friends, and either got no interest at all, or concern that wishing to express the right to offend was encouraging offensive speech, i.e. the sort of propaganda the Muslim community has been putting out. I'm upset with this blinkered view. Where free speech is concerned, people are quite happy to ignore infringements because it's quite interesting how little, in a free society, the average person feels the need to use it. Well, more fool them, I suppose those of us who fear the anti-Enlightenment approaching must do the work ourselves, on their behalf.

I don't want to parrot everything that was said here. Hopefully transcript and audio will be available on the web. There was great eloquence and ideas of huge importance. I was very moved. I think Labi Shiffre probably said it best for the non-believing activist, and I sincerely hope I can get hold of a transcript of his speech, even though his attendance was unplanned.

I've no idea who he is, actually, hopefully I'll find out soon but even Google can't shed any light on him. His message was essentially what I have been saying as my main point during this affair - how can there be any sense in society adjusting its behaviour for religious sensibilities when it cannot even be shown that god exists? The picture illustrates the point. Should we stop masturbating just in case it might kill kittens?

The rally was largely good-humoured. There were a couple of odd incidents. A guy, apparently a supporter of Maryam Namazie, had been talking to the press before the rally and gathering quite a crowd simply because he was the only one who'd actually put the caricatures on a placard (the organisers only didn't for the good reason that it would probably have led to violent conflict - self-censorship rules once again - but they didn't want to detract from the point of rally). You can see the placard in this picture.

Baffling as it is to me that any practising Muslim can be a supporter of free speech and women's rights, he made a good little speech. However, apparently someone complained about his placard and the police under some anti-terrorist legislation I think, were obliged to insist he stop showing it. On the March for Free Expression website they say the complaint was about showing the Danish flag but I don't understand that. Perhaps the comment on the website is just a cover? Anyway the placard was passed around the crowd on the grounds that the police couldn't arrest everyone, and I was hoping to get a chance to hold it for the cameras (or at least my camera!), but it never came to me.

In one other incident a strange short fat black man dressed in odd get-up caused another stir. He had a Tony Blair caricature mask with no nose on a pole, a Nazi symbol made out of four L-plates, and some ambiguous placards that I think implied he was an 'islamofascist' but I'm not sure. I mean, a black neo-Nazi? Do they exist?!

Anyway, a couple of stewards rushed up to him and asked him to leave, or take down one of his signs, or something, I don't know. He protested, and then some of the crowd nearby started shouting for them to leave him alone. We were here for free expression for goodness' sake, if the guy wanted to express something we disagreed with, then tough - that's the whole point of free expression. In the end it seemed like he was left alone. But the kerfuffle ruined the speech of the eloquent lady who was talking at the time.

It is so sad that we were having to have the rally at all. Those rights were won two centuries ago, through much bloodshed. However, if we must fight the Enlightenment a second time then so be it. We will do it, and we will win it again.