Suspending civil liberties
FOLLOWING the outrage regarding the plight of Gideon Falter, the Jewish man insisting on walking back to his home through a crowd of thousands of pro-palestinian protestors (“Met Police chief Rowley facing calls to quit over handling of Gaza protest”, The Herald, April
22), does anyone have any sympathy for the police officer who tried to persuade and ultimately stopped him from doing so?
Despite the clunky language I think as an experienced police officer he perceived a genuine
threat to Mr Falter’s wellbeing if not his life and tried to intervene to preserve the peace, which is after all his prime duty.
Of course, there are genuine issues surrounding civil liberties and the use of language, but this was a realtime event happening on the ground with no time or capacity to debate the legalities in a tinderox situation. What would public reaction have been if the officer had apologised and sent Mr Falter on his way and wishing him a good day?
Sadly, lessons in crowd control can be learned from Police Scotland’s methods of crowd control at Old Firm matches.
Imagine a similar situation
arising in Govan on the day of an Old Firm match where a Celtic fan bedecked in replica top and scarf who currently can’t attend the match but decides to exercise his human rights and walk past Ibrox on his way back to Partick. Do you think the crowd of Rangers fans would have parted like the Red Sea and allowed the Celtic supporter to walk through with good grace and a hail fellow well met?
Civil liberties are the backbone of civilised society and should be observed at all times but sometimes in the real world they have to be temporarily suspended and justifiably so for the greater good.