"Someone shouted 'terrorists' at a man and woman" incident this afternoon

[Jim1234]

Awful! Someone shouted 'terrorists' at a man and woman walking down Lordship Lane today near Classic Lofts and the launderette. They looked back, bewildered but otherwise seemed OK. I chased after the victims to tell them I would be happy to be a witness if they wanted to go to the police but they declined. I have reported it to the police too.

Jim

[rendelharris]

Good on you Jim. Hopefully this incident is as isolated as it is disgusting.

[JohnL]

I knew a guy who used to shout "tourist" (as in he was a tourist) and it sounded so like "terrorist"

[peckham_ryu]

How did the police respond?

[Jim1234]

Hi, they said they will keep it on file and will get back to me should the victims decide to contact them. It seems unless the victims come forward nothing will happen.

Otherwise why / how was this thread renamed? The title I gave it was 'racist incident this afternoon'

[peckham_ryu]

Jim1234 Wrote:

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> why /how was this thread renamed? The

> title I gave it was 'racist incident this

> afternoon'

In fairness, 'terrorist' is not in and of itself racially offensive. If the boor had directly referred to the couple's ancestry, for example by calling them 'Micks', 'Paddies', 'Fenians' or simply 'Irish b*****ds', then that would be your proper racism.

Top marks for civic mindedness. Personally I don't think ringing the law was a good use of your time in the circumstances you described.

[KrackersMaracas]

To counter what peckham_ryu has said I think "terrorist" is entirely racially motivated thing to shout at someone. I think Jim that your actions should be applauded - for reporting to the police, yes, but mostly for seeking out the couple to check they were ok and not just telling yourself that it isn't worth the time to get involved.

[rendelharris]

peckham_ryu Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

> In fairness, 'terrorist' is not in and of itself

> racially offensive. If the boor had directly

> referred to the couple's ancestry, for example by

> calling them 'Micks', 'Paddies', 'Fenians' or

> simply 'Irish b*****ds', then that would be your

> proper racism.

>

> Top marks for civic mindedness. Personally I don't

> think ringing the law was a good use of your time

> in the circumstances you described.

Sheer guesswork but the balance of probability would be that the abused couple were of Middle Eastern or African appearance, in which case the slur would be racist as directed at an assumption based on their race, rather than some random shouting at white people on the basis that they were ALF or Red Brigade...I think it is important that the police are made aware of this sort of incident as they are now alerted to a potential problem in the area, perhaps have a description of the abuser and can plan their strategies accordingly. It wouldn't be good if, heaven forfend, someone ended up stabbed in such an incident and it was later discovered that there had been several such abusive incidents but nobody had bothered to report them. Again, fair play to Jim, in my opinion.

[Suffer-not]

Jim1234 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Awful! Someone shouted 'terrorists' at a man and

> woman walking down Lordship Lane today near

> Classic Lofts and the launderette. They looked

> back, bewildered but otherwise seemed OK. I chased

> after the victims to tell them I would be happy to

> be a witness if they wanted to go to the police

> but they declined. I have reported it to the

> police too.

>

> Jim

Why did you not chase after the person who shouted and ask he/she where the terrorists were?

[Jim1234]

OK seems I neglected to mention that the couple were assumedly muslim - the lady was wearing a headscarf. Clearly it was racism, islamophobia, discrimination, whatever you want to call it.

[Jim1234]

And thank you all for the messages of support. I just hope the abused couple are ok.

[dimples]

Jim I would have done the same !

[Green Goose]

Jim1234 Wrote:

> Clearly it was racism, islamophobia,

> discrimination, whatever you want to call it.

You make several hasty assumptions. It probably was islamophobia but it may not have been **clearly** "racism" or "discrimination". He/she may have been the same race as you or me or them. Were they white, black or clearly of a different race from the person who shouted out? There are white muslims and Chines muslims out there you know.

By using the words **whatever you want to call it**, you are provocatively inviting readers to put whatever other prejudicial words they might want to assume apply.

Probably the most applicable label you used is islamophobia i.e. a fear of Islam. The islamophobic person would be conditioned through fear of islam. Probably he/she has experienced or has seen evidence of atrocities carried out in the name of Islam by extremists. People who have phobias ( and there are many of them) should be pitied and helped and not prosecuted and condemned. They suffer on a daily basis with their phobias.

So instead of stirring up prejudice through your (unsubstantiated) outcry, you should show some pity to the person with the phobia.

GG

[KidKruger]

GG - in the context of what Jim has posted and the story he has told, your comments are not necessary and you come aross as a prize tit, mate.

Someone shouts terrorist at a Muslim couple and you want pity for the perpetrator ?

That kind of event is hate-based.

Also, this BS about phobias, you can look on Wikipedia all day long but Islamaphobia these days is about hate, not 'fear'. Where do you get this tripe, the Daily Mail ?

[Rolo Tomasi]

Green Goose,

Was that some kind of joke?

[Green Goose]

Rolo Tomasi Wrote:

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> Green Goose,

>

> Was that some kind of joke?

If you do not agree with someone's well argued views, why just trash them? That's smacks of bigotry.

GG

[Green Goose]

KidKruger Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> GG - in the context of what Jim has posted and the

> story he has told, your comments are not necessary

> and you come aross as a prize tit, mate.

Typical intolerance of an alternative interpretation that does not meet the your view.

>

> Someone shouts terrorist at a Muslim couple and

> you want pity for the perpetrator ?

> That kind of event is hate-based.

> Also, this BS about phobias, you can look on

> Wikipedia all day long but Islamaphobia these days

> is about hate, not 'fear'.

The derivation of phobia is from the Greek word for fear. I hope you never get a real phobia - but then you might understand better.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=phobia

>Where do you get this tripe, the Daily Mail ?

.. typical derogatory response from an intolerant bigotted liberal who gets a daily fix from the Guardian.

GG

[Rolo Tomasi]

Green Goose Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Rolo Tomasi Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Green Goose,

> >

> > Was that some kind of joke?

>

> If you do not agree with someone's well argued

> views, why just trash them? That's smacks of

> bigotry.

> GG

Get in the sea.

[KidKruger]

I have a few phobias but none make me shout insults at people because of their background.

Don't tell me, the Nazis had Jew-o-phobia, so should be pitied ?

Tool.

[rendelharris]

Green Goose Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> You make several hasty assumptions. It probably

> was islamophobia but it may not have been

> **clearly** "racism" or "discrimination". He/she

> may have been the same race as you or me or them.

> Were they white, black or clearly of a different

> race from the person who shouted out? There are

> white muslims and Chines muslims out there you

> know.

>

> By using the words **whatever you want to call

> it**, you are provocatively inviting readers to

> put whatever other prejudicial words they might

> want to assume apply.

>

> Probably the most applicable label you used is

> islamophobia i.e. a fear of Islam. The

> islamophobic person would be conditioned through

> fear of islam. Probably he/she has experienced or

> has seen evidence of atrocities carried out in the

> name of Islam by extremists. People who have

> phobias ( and there are many of them) should be

> pitied and helped and not prosecuted and

> condemned. They suffer on a daily basis with their

> phobias.

>

> So instead of stirring up prejudice through your

> (unsubstantiated) outcry, you should show some

> pity to the person with the phobia.

>

> GG

I love the fact that in a following post you describe the above piffle as "well argued views" - brilliant.

KK was very wrong (above) to call you a tool, but I guess what you should really be called wouldn't get through the forum filters, so tool will do for now.

Just to restate your "argument": people who abuse innocent Muslims in the street should be pitied not censured, and it's "stirring up prejudice" to act in the Muslims' defence and to report it.

Astonishing.

[JohnL]

rendelharris Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> KK was very wrong (above) to call you a tool, but

> I guess what you should really be called wouldn't

> get through the forum filters, so tool will do for

> now.

The Guardian described a tool (in UK English - not known

in America) in relation to Milo Yiannopoulos as

Offensive and Ineffective at the same time.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/23/milo-yiannopoulos-british-celebrities-in-america-phoney-provocateur

[Champ]

No it isn?t accurate to describe GG as a tool as it suggests there is some kind of use for him/her.

[Mick Mac]

It's a big presumption to call this racism. There is no obvious racism in the comment - therefore you are making an assumption based upon what you think the caller might have intended by his comment. That's hard to do.

If anyone had spoken to the person who called out we might then have had some follow up basis for the racism accusation. Not that id recommend that necessarily. But he/she might have tripped him/herself up trying to justify the shout/comment.

I agree it's a horrible incident but am not surprised that the title of the thread has been amended to reflect the facts rather than the perception.

[JohnL]

This is worse but not far away....

http://www.sloughexpress.co.uk/news/slough/110937/man-who-shouted-terrorist-at-a-mum-and-her-young-children-sentenced-in-court.html

"Together we can stamp out this kind of behaviour in our communities so if you witness anyone being racially or religiously abused please report it to the police by calling 101 or visiting you local police station. In an emergency please dial 999.?

[rendelharris]

I agree MM that there has to be an element of assumption, in the absence of an in-depth interview with the perpetrator, but I wouldn't say it was a terribly large assumption. In the popular imagination at this time, terrorism is associated with people of middle eastern appearance, so if someone is shouting "terrorists" at a couple of such appearance it's logical to assume their race played a part in the perpetrator's decision to attack them rather than someone else. If it didn't it was an attack solely on their religious appearance, which is of course just as bad. Perhaps we can just call it a "hate incident" - I don't think anyone, apart from maybe GG, would disagree with that.