
Breadcrumb
— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) December 12, 2015
" style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post
|
— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) December 12, 2015
" style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post
|
"Demo organisers (assumed to be John Rees) telling the cops the demo wouldn't start while the Syrians were at the front, so the cops tried to pressure us to leave," wrote Syria Solidarity activist Mark Boothroyd on facebook.
"Had to tell them politely that we were exercising our democratic right to participate in a public anti-war demo."
John Rees described them as "Tatchell supporters", in reference to the British human rights activist who supports the Syrian revolution, which also frustrated many.
— Omar Sabbour (@OmarSabbour) December 13, 2015
" style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post
|
Kurds who supported British airstrikes on IS targets also protested outside the Stop the War dinner. Stop the War Coalition is thought to have a generally supportive attitude towards the Kurds in Syria.
— Omar Sabbour (@OmarSabbour) December 13, 2015" style="color:#fff;" class="twitter-post-link" target="_blank">Twitter Post
|
On Friday Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn addressed a Stop the War Coalition dinner, despite criticism of the group from some of his MPs.
Mr Corbyn called the group "one of the most important democratic campaigns of modern times" and said: "Branding it as somehow illegitimate is an attempt to close down democratic debate."
In an interview with channel4 news, Tatchell described the group's work opposing the war on Iraq as "extraordinary and brilliant", but said that they had "completely lost the plot on Syria."
The organisation also came under fire last month for holding a panel discussion in the British parliament where they shut down Syrians attempting to speak.
In an open letter to the Guardian this week, activists said the Stop the War Coalition has failed when it came to Syria and misrepresented the conflict as being between Assad and jihadists or "agents of imperialism".
"Stop the War has failed to organise or support protests against the Assad dictatorship and the regime's massacre of peaceful democracy protesters in 2011 - and since," the letter read.
"Nor has it shown solidarity with the non-violent Syrian civil society movements for democracy and human rights and with the millions of innocent civilians killed, wounded and displaced by Assad's barrel bombs and torture chambers."