In February 2006, these were the placards I saw on an Islamic march in London outside my work. Tony Blair (Labour) was in poser. The placards also said "Slay", "Behead" "Exterminate" those who basically don't think like us. The police were there and they did nothing. The marchers was allowed to continue, unmolested to, I think, the Danish embassy and to demonstrate there. I had never seen placards like them before nor since. They were breathtakingly awful. The march was in protest against some Danish cartoonists who had represented the prophet Muhammad. I think one person was arrested, someone outraged that this was being allowed to go ahead. A year later there were some prosecutions of the protesters.
I have never felt such hatred emanating from one group of people. It was scary just to witness. I felt so affected I sent something to the BBC and it was briefly discussed on the evening news.
What a difference to the current marches which seem nothing like as explicit or as violent and yet the police are under constant pressure from the government to act tougher. We live in a society with many more laws against free speech and protest and where the police are more expected to crack down.
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