Letter: ​A shutdown of free speech must be opposed at all costs

Yet, through their chants, many in this crowd prove they are antisemitic.

Hamas murdered hundreds of men, women and children, even kidnapping and raping Israeli women after which Israel retaliated. These pro-Hamas gatherings should be seen for what they are: anti-British.

We should not be surprised at IRA sympathisers who support those who committed similar crimes to Hamas to the people of Northern Ireland and beyond, including the kidnapping and murder of a foreign businessman who gave employment to people in west Belfast and whose family members went on to take their own lives.

To allow such people to shout down justly concerned people about mass and illegal immigration is something that those of us with the same concerns should not tolerate.

Many of the people who shout down anti-immigration protests are not from the coal face where communities are being changed beyond recognition. The same people are not living in the areas where people struggle for medical appointments, jobs, housing or school places.

For the sake of our children and grandchildren, more of us should join the protest against illegal immigration - including our politicians who are of the same opinion and need to lead from the front.

There again, many of our politicians are not affected in the way those who vote for them are. Naomi Long branded anti-immigration marches hate marches. This is typical of the well-off elite living in leafy areas. I wonder how many asylum seekers Naomi has living near her.

All the champagne socialists, and the establishment who despise any opposition from ordinary people, shout the loudest and even want to close down free speech. This must be opposed at all costs.

John Mulholland, Doagh