Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/08/12/which-side-are-you-on-7.html
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I hope they have a plan. Looks like there is only one way out.
“Some Hong Kong legal experts say official descriptions of some protesters’ actions as terrorism could lead to the use of extensive anti-terror laws and powers against them.”
“China’s People’s Armed Police also assembled in the neighboring city of Shenzhen for exercises, the state-backed Global Times newspaper said.”
Via Reuters
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How do the draconian security services tell protesters apart from people stuck in the airport due to protesting? I guess they can check their tickets; but how many people are going to end up on a watch list because they were travelling on the wrong day and got caught up in the protest? I hope that everyone (staff, passengers and protesters) all got safely home.
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I get updates from my family in HK. They are telling me don’t come to visit and they don’t trust the police. They are avoiding wearing white or black shirts. They send me updates when they can with stories that don’t make the news.
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Roger That!
Crossing off list Hong Kong off my list…
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What would Western democratic governments do if there were a protest like this?
Taiwan is watching.
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As an example for the homefront, I think this is more what is needed against ICE offices or CPB camps, rather than trying to sabotage vehicles. Just overwhelm them with more bodies than they can deal with, especially entry/exit routes.
That said, no I’ve never engaged deeply in protests due to location, and I realize it’s probably a naive concept. So please don’t derail the this topic trying to @ me with a pedantic wall of text about how the authorities would shut that down. I already figure it could be a given.
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The question is whether protests like this would happen in a democratic country.
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And today the military is moving in – airports really are the weak point of the modern world. Protests there get attention like no other (non-violent) tactic does.
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It is not going to be a pretty picture. The Central government is an immovable object and not apt to say, “we were wrong” and perform a volte-face. What did Deng say about Tianenmen … “you’ve got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette”
I think the procedure is to characterize the protesters as being so outside the mainstream as to be beyond the pale while simultaneously encouraging under-reporting of the numbers of people involved.
Hundreds of thousands of people were caught in huge traffic jams during the demonstrations this week, without formula for the baby, without water, without gas. Cars were torched and dozens of officers were injured.
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Blocking roads for hours used to be considered a criminal offense in Israel. Our old settler-politician friend Moshe Feiglin was convicted of incitement when he commanded an operation to block roads as part of a nonviolent protest against the Oslo Accords. Others, who torched cars on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Freeway, have been convicted of “attempting to endanger human life maliciously on a transportation route.” During the Oslo period and the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, blocking roads was not “accommodated.” Today all that’s almost a dead letter. Causing suffering to thousands has become the first means of protest to be pulled from the tool chest.
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