George Galloway badly injured in street attack

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: guardian UK

Man held after Respect MP suffers suspected broken jaw during attack in London apparently prompted by prior remarks on Israel

Respect MP George Galloway has been taken to hospital with a suspected broken jaw after being attacked in the street.

Police have arrested a British man over the incident, which is believed to have been prompted by comments Galloway made about Israel.

The 59-year-old politician was posing for pictures in Notting Hill, London, on Friday evening when a man lashed out at him, his spokesman said. Galloway later went to Notting Hill police station to make a statement after the attacker was arrested.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/29/george-galloway-injured-london-street-attack?CMP=twt_gu

[LloydS of New London]

1. Don't mess with Holy Mother Israel !

[still_one]

3. what a stupid inference based on the actions of one Brit. I guess

any American who does a crime we can make up all kinds of inferences also

Impeccable logic

[Hoppy]

17. Maybe he was pissed because Galloway may have made a negative comment

about Benny Hill.

I like Benny Hill. I got full DVD set. If Galloway says anything bad about Benny Hill, I might be pissed enough to break his jaw, too.


Nothin' to do with Israel or apartheid or genocide or anything like that.

[still_one]

18. I liked Benny Hill also. Who knows what was one person's mind before he assaulted Galloway

[George II]

4. What does that have to do with anything here?

[Bosonic]

2. Alternatively, he's not very popular with Scottish Independence peeps

I'm warning Alex Salmond now; I will hold him responsible for any attempt to wreck my #JustSayNaw meetings and any physical attack upon me
7:11 PM - 29 Aug 2014

https://twitter.com/georgegalloway/status/505417524927004674

[oberliner]

5. "...because the guy was shouting about the Holocaust"

The Respect spokesman seems really eager to want to blame a pro-Israel person for the attack.

Already twitter is filled with "George Galloway attacked by Zionist" tweets.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. There are people who believe you either unquestioningly support Israel or you're Hitler.

[Scootaloo]

6. I'm certain it was completely random and had nothing to do with anything

[oberliner]

7. A mentally ill person perhaps?

Shouting and attacking someone in the street that way indicates a possiblly unsound mind.

[father founding]

15. TEAPUBS mentally ill ?

So your inferring that the Teapubs are all mentally ill, the way they all attack the President ?

[JackRiddler]

19. How much mileage did you get out of the Belgian doctor?

[Aerows]

42. LOL!

What an on target ZING! that was, JR.

[GoneFishin]

9. Yes, it's so fuzzy and confusing. If only he was wearing a turban then it would be so much clearer.

[Scootaloo]

10. Well then at least he'd be a part of a massive insidious movement, and not some random nutter!

[BillZBubb]

11. Love the hypocrisy here. Someone attacks a pro Israel person, they are immediately

called anti-Semites by the Israeli apologists. When they get a dose of their own medicine in reverse, all of the sudden they don't see a connection.

[Kaleva]

12. The Respect MP didn't get any respect.

[Owl]

13. Seems near everyone's going bonkers these days.

[reorg]

14. I hope George Galloway recovers soon

and will be able to visit this nutcase in prison to explain that he is fighting AGAINST another genocide and not in favor of one.

[father founding]

16. LIN, Low Information Nutcase.

Unfortunately, the nutcase won't understand him. Most People don't have a clue.

[oberliner]

20. Turns out there was no broken jaw

He was feared to have suffered a broken jaw but the MP's spokesman said this was not the case.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-28994862

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. Man charged with religiously-aggravated assault

A man has been charged with religiously-aggravated assault after MP George Galloway was attacked in a west London street.
...
Neil Masterson, 39, of Camden Hill, will appear at Hammersmith Magistrates Court on Monday.

He has also been charged with common assault against a man in his 40s who came to the victim's aid, police said.
...
The assailant also made reference to the Holocaust, the spokesman said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28998607

[reorg]

22. How can you aggravate assault religiously?

Really, I don't get it. Is this some kind of hate crime?

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. By having a religious motive for it

'Hate crime' isn't, as far as I know, a term used in English law.

Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (as amended)

Parliament has passed legislation aimed at outlawing crime where the offender is motivated by hostility or hatred towards the victim's race or religious beliefs (actual or perceived). A table setting out some of the more commonly used legislation is attached at Annex A.
...
This Act came into force on 30 September 1998 and created a number of specific offences of racially aggravated crime, based on offences of wounding, assault, damage, harassment and threatening/abusive behaviour. Monitoring had indicated that these types of crime were those most commonly experienced by victims of racial violence or harassment.

The Act was amended by the Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001, which came into effect on 14 December 2001. It extended the scope of the Crime and Disorder Act by creating new specific religiously aggravated offences and applying the same sentencing duty to all other offences where there is evidence of religious aggravation.

The Act was amended further by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, which came into effect on 25 November 2012. It created new specific offences of stalking and it also created racially and religiously aggravated versions of these offences.

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/racist_and_religious_crime/

[reorg]

26. thanks for the information

Last edited Sun Aug 31, 2014, 06:25 AM - Edit history (1)

but since your source states that religious aggravation comes in when the illegal act is:

"motivated by hostility or hatred towards the victim's ... religious beliefs"

I wonder how this could be established when nobody even knows about Galloway's religious beliefs and he doesn't speak about them in public? In fact, I've seen him make the point in interviews that his religion is nobody's business and that he refuses to talk about it.

Since the attacker obviously didn't know him personally, something seems fishy about that "religiously" aggravated offense allegation.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

28. Notice the term "(actual or perceived)"

There's been many rumours that Galloway converted to Islam, whether he has or not is irrelevant. It's based on the perceptions and assumptions of the attacker.

[oberliner]

24. "Galloway supports the IRA and their sectarian murders. I will confront him on Saturday night..."

From the arrested attacker's FB page:

"Galloway supports the IRA and their sectarian murders. I will confront him on Saturday night, he wont come over here and tramp on the graves of those who gave all for Ulster."

Other, even more hateful remarks (some directed as Galloway) as well.

[reorg]

25. Do you mean this Facebook page

An account in that name carries a series of comments and abusive remarks about Muslims as well as claims that Galloway is anti-Semitic.

The account holder ‘shared’ a picture of the politician, branding him a ‘snake’ and captioned: ‘Galloway is a Hamas and IRA supporter.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2738668/Facebook-threats-against-Galloway-just-hours-vicious-street-attack-man-charged-religiously-aggravated-assault-Respect-MP.html

Neil Masterson likes:

United With Israel
The White House
Israel Defense Forces
Christians United for Israel (CUFI)
John Hagee Ministries

https://m.facebook.com/neil.masterson.5

[oberliner]

31. Exactly

That's the one.

[muriel_volestrangler]

29. You appear to have found something posted about Galloway from the week before by a different person

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=819870258032067&set=a.173732535979179.62685.100000273022940&type=1&fref=nf

which happened, as a vidoed protest, and for which Galloway said he'd sue: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/george-galloway-im-suing-willie-frazer-over-ulster-hall-isis-rant-30532791.html

[oberliner]

30. It was also posted on the attacker's Facebook page

With even worse comments beneath.

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. But since the "Saturday night confrontation" was a protest in Belfast by someone else

it seems misleading to put that other man's words up without any indication that it wasn't Galloway's attacker who said them.

[oberliner]

33. It was the most recent Galloway-related post on his timeline

and it was from not too long before the attack so it seemed possibly germane.

Perhaps provides evidence that this may have been premeditated as he clearly had a deep and disturbing antipathy towards Galloway and a penchant for making nasty comments about him.

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. But it doesn't provide evidence - you quoted the other man, not the attacker

and none of the nasty comments. It's the words of a different person. I can't see the attacker's Facebook page at the link someone else gave (maybe it's visible to members?), but all this seems to show is that the attacker had noted someone else's previous protest against Galloway.

[reorg]

35. Here is a link to the part I can see

without being a member:

http://is.gd/kXHUD6

On this page there is only one comment (next to the picture below):

I'd like to make a distinction between Islam, and the increased militancy of politicsed islam that is causing chaos in the middle east, poses an existential threat to the rights of Israel and poses a very real threat to us in the UK. Those idiots who go round trashing Kwiksave or tesco etc are primarily interested in having Israel in their sights: these are the usual suspects of; angry young Muslim boys, white middle class socialists and anyone else who has no idea what it is like to love your country... They aren't smart enough to realise that Israel is the front line of the war for democratic values, and, if they're honest with themselves, they'llbe thankful to have the good fortune to live in secure, peaceful democracy. It is not this lot I'm worried about... Moderate Muslims in the UK and elsewhere have to be as vocal as they can in condemning and rooting out the traitors in their midst: they present the same threat as what was posed by recalcitrant Catholics in the 17th and 18th centuries. Catholics have finally reconciled themselves with the protestant primacy that flavours our national character. I'm confident the moderate Muslims who contribute enormously to the success of our realm will stand with defenders of parliamentary democracy. ...

Not much irrational bigotry, it would appear, his violence was apparently directed at a political target.

[reorg]

36. some further comments

Can't vouch for their authenticity:



Posted here: http://www.veooz.com/photos/fHSQoZR.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

38. Thanks for those - those are hateful comments

When I go to your link, the only thing I get is a photo of him in front of David Cameron. But I do have Facebook marked as an untrusted site for 'NoScript', because I don't trust Facebook, especially when they seem to get their scripts put up on other people's pages - that's probably why I don't see the comments.

[reorg]

39. Yes, NoScript prevents seeing that comment n/t

[oberliner]

37. Fair enough

I can't get to the page anymore either. I guess it's been made private.

To be honest, I didn't understand initially that it was a re-post from another person's FB page and not the alleged attacker's original post. I just scanned through looking for any references to Galloway and that was the first one that came up.

[2banon]

41. offs! there is a logical connection with the posts on fb to the perp.

The attacker is clearly a Christian fundie-Zionist supporter, as evidenced by his own fb postings, regardless of origins.

[muriel_volestrangler]

43. which is why the stuff about the IRA seemed a bit of distraction

That's what the Northern Irish person doesn't like about Galloway, not his attacker.

[2banon]

44. check out reorg's link in post 25 or here ya go..

reorg post 25

Neil Masterson likes:

United With Israel
The White House
Israel Defense Forces
Christians United for Israel (CUFI)
John Hagee Ministries

https://m.facebook.com/neil.masterson.5

edit to add I agree that Neil Masterson is no friend to the Irish's long time goal of Home Rule. Loves him the historically brutal English Rule in Northern Ireland, along with all the other Right Wing Christian Wackos here and abroad.

[Warpy]

27. Galloway has always called things like he sees them

I often disagree with his take but I respect both his bravery and his wonderful use of language.

Swift recovery, Mr. Galloway. The world desperately needs its gadflies.

[oberliner]

40. Galloway: "I suspect my attacker was a thug from an extreme Right-wing group."

Full Quote: "I have no idea why it happened, though I suspect my attacker was a thug from an extreme Right-wing group."

From his first-hand report of the attack:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2738682/I-crashed-ground-thinking-man-going-kick-death-George-Galloway-reveals-terror-attack-Notting-Hill-led-police-suspect.html#ixzz3BydxY6XC