jmg@houxk.UUCP (J.MCGHEE) (12/29/83)
In Martin Taylor's reply to my article "Does pro-English mean anti-Celtic?" he incorrectly sites a ban on neo-Nazi's marching in a jewish community as a limitation of the freedom of speech. This particular incident does not involve freedom of speech, but freedom of assembly. The neo-Nazi's were never prevented from SPEAKING but from ASSEMBLING in a place which caused an invasion of the privacy of the residents of a residential neighborhood by a troop of militants shouting death threats at the residents of the community. They have a right to ASSEMBLE in an appropriate place such as a meeting hall or non-residential street as long as traffic is not obstructed and lives and property are not endangered and SPEAK whatever comes into their mind. To give a contrasting example, about a year ago Ian Paisley was allowed to march through a town in Northern Ireland which is 90% Nationalist or Republican. He had a heavily armed escort of police who clubbed the people lining the parade route. Later, when the people of the town tried to stage their own parade to counter the effect of the Paisley parade, they were again clubbed and prevented from parading in their own town while outsiders were allowed to enter their town and take it over for their own purposes. This parade can only be interpreted as an attempt to inflame passions and demonstrate to the Nationalist people that they have NO RIGHTS and the Loyalists can do whatever they please whenever and wherever they wish. Furthermore, the people of the town were totally amazed at this event since there had never been any unrest in their town before. This is another example of the Loyalists recruiting more supporters for the Republican cause by their heavy-handed tactics.