Occupy = Al-Qaeda According To London Police

[Gravekeeper]

Occupy Classified As a Terrorist Threat

Wow. This is a frankly unsettling step to see taken.

Edit: Should specify it being the City of London police.

[HYHYBT]

Call them criminals if you like; It is still against the law to break into buildings.

But it's not terrorism.

[Panacea]

And that's the whole thing. There's criminal acts and criminal acts.

Then there's civil disobedience, which is a criminal act committed with the intent of protesting an unfair law or governmental policy, in this case the preferential treatment coroporations get from the law over average Joes.

To equate this with groups like al-Queda who have declared war on the West goes from beyond laughable to stunningly outrageous.

[Zod]

Isn't terrorism just trying to achieve a political goal with violence?

I think groups such as Greenpeace and PETA have also ended up on terrorist watchlists on occasion.

Maybe this is a good thing? Too many people these days treat 'Terrorist' as a synonym for religious extremist.

[Panacea]

Greenpeace and PETA don't blow up cafes full of innocent people just to try and scare governments into capitulating.

I don't condone violence on the part of those organizations, but their violence is a far cry from what al-Queda, the IRA, FARC, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other similar groups have done.

Though I had no problem with the Japanese government charging that idiot with the Sea Shepherds who boarded a whaling vessel and tried to "arrest" the captain. Then again, that guy was more out for street cred than a captive.

The Occupy folks are taking over property. They're not blowing up banks, or wrecking offices. They're just doing sit ins. Extreme sit ins, but sit ins.

[Greenday]

Isn't terrorism just trying to achieve a political goal with violence?

Terrorists use fear tactics to achieve their goals. Just because it's usually violence doesn't mean it has to be violence.

Funny though, I couldn't find Al Qaeda mentioned once in the article. Gravekeeper, could you please tell me where you found the comparison to Al-Qaeda made by London police?

[Gravekeeper]

Funny though, I couldn't find Al Qaeda mentioned once in the article. Gravekeeper, could you please tell me where you found the comparison to Al-Qaeda made by London police?

Um, dude.......in the third paragraph as well as the picture with the article? >.>

[linguist]

Funny though, I couldn't find Al Qaeda mentioned once in the article. Gravekeeper, could you please tell me where you found the comparison to Al-Qaeda made by London police?

then perhaps you should read the article more carefully. here's the quote, from the third paragraph of the article (with bolding for extra clarification):

The Occupy movement is listed alongside threats posed by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), Al Qaeda and Belarusian terrorists.

[Greenday]

When I searched this morning, it wasn't coming up.

Honestly though, I don't see the problem with this. They may not be violent like Al Qaeda or Hamas but Occupy clearly wants to rock our government. And they've already proven to be violent in some cases.

[Andara Bledin]

Terrorists use fear tactics to achieve their goals. Just because it's usually violence doesn't mean it has to be violence.

They may not be violent like Al Qaeda or Hamas but Occupy clearly wants to rock our government. And they've already proven to be violent in some cases.

Using your criteria, other than the whole "rock our government" thing, our own police are far closer to terrorists than the Occupy movement.

^-.-^

[Gravekeeper]

Honestly though, I don't see the problem with this. They may not be violent like Al Qaeda or Hamas but Occupy clearly wants to rock our government. And they've already proven to be violent in some cases.

You seriously see absolutely nothing wrong with classifying your own citizens as terrorists on par with Al-Qaeda just because they're protesting inequality? Even when by your own admission they're not violent? Seriously? Holy shit, dude. You cannot classify civil disobedience as terrorism. Especially when the worst offence they've partaken of here is squatting. Occupy doesn't even rank up with a fucking soccer riot, and you think its fine to classify them as terrorists?

Should we just get on with the police state and get the KGB back up and running then? Gotta get the plebs back into the labour camps. -.-

[Greenday]

You seriously see absolutely nothing wrong with classifying your own citizens as terrorists on par with Al-Qaeda just because they're protesting inequality? Even when by your own admission they're not violent?

Now you are just plain making stuff up. Don't say that I've said stuff that I definitely have not.

I have no problem with classifying them as terrorists. I said specifically that they are not like Al-Qaeda or Hamas. Yet you obviously completely ignored that comment.

[Gravekeeper]

I have no problem with classifying them as terrorists. I said specifically that they are not like Al-Qaeda or Hamas. Yet you obviously completely ignored that comment.

They're not like terrorists, they're just terrorists? They're not violent like Al-Qaeda or Hamas, they've just been proven to be violent in some cases? I didn't ignore your comment, I'm just amazed by it and the fact that this unsettling precedant is totally okay with you.

How can they not be like terrorists, but still be terrorists? How does a protest that the other day was being dismissed as hippies and beatniks, now qualify as a fucking terrorist threat all of a sudden?

Is anyone seriously afraid of Occupy? Has Occupy done anything to inspire terror? Has Occupy made any universal statements that they are going to strike with fear and terror until their demands are met?

Andara's right, the police are closer to a terrorist threat than Occupy if this is your only criteria.

[Greenday]

They're not like terrorists, they're just terrorists? They're not violent like Al-Qaeda or Hamas, they've just been proven to be violent in some cases? I didn't ignore your comment, I'm just amazed by it and the fact that this unsettling precedant is totally okay with you.

Similar goals, different means.

[Gravekeeper]

Similar goals, different means.

Similar goals? Are you insane? Also, yeah, different means as in means that are not terrorism.


Al-Qaeda's Goals:

Global religious war
An Islamic world government
The complete elimination of other religions and non-believers, including other branchs of Islam, through straight up murder. Civilians included.


Occupy's Goals:

Economic equality
Bank regulation reform
Money out of politics
Investigation of the 2008 economic collapse and those responsible held responsible


Occupy London Specific Goal:

Measures to end tax evasion by wealthy firms in London itself.



How the fuck are those similar?