Remembrance Day 2013: Celebrating 12th anniversary of Britain’s endless warfare

Propaganda alert

compiled by Cem Ertür

11 November 2013

For the past 12 years, the British public has been constantly subjected to an intense war propaganda justifying Britain’s genocidal wars across Asia and Africa. Despite the absence of any real anti-war movement, the public exasparation with endless warfare became apparent in September with the Government's failure to obtain the necessary support to launch war on Syria. Held two months later, this year’s Remembrance Day events were by far the most elaborate. Apart from the habitual propaganda and fundraising for the Army, overt efforts to pressurise British Muslims into manifesting support for British imperialism and militarism were particularly sinister.

[British] Prime Minister David Cameron poses for a photograph with members of the armed forces, The Poppy Girls and
supporters of the Poppy Appeal outside [the Prime Minister’s office in] Downing Street on November 7, 2013 in London,
England. Prime Minister David Cameron welcomes a Poppy Bus and The Poppy Girls to Downing Street to support the Royal
British Legion's Poppy Appeal. [1]

Britain's Prince William and wife Catherine meet poppy sellers at High Street Kensington underground station, London,
7 November 2013

[Britain's] Prince Harry and his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh [Prince Philip], who have both served as officers in the theatre of war, made a rare joint appearance at the Field of Remembrance in Westminster Abbey.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge [Prince William and wife Catherine] attended a separate event, welcoming military supporters into the grounds of Kensington Palace to mark Royal British Legion London Poppy Day, which raised £1 million in 24 hours.

They surprised commuters when they boarded the special bus to [London’s] High Street Kensington [Underground] Station and greeted poppy vendors in the station. Onlookers were shocked to see them as they walked towards the station entrance where the poppies were being sold. [2]

The [British] Deputy Prime Minister [Nick Clegg] and his wife [Miriam Gonzalez Durantez] sold poppies at Charing Cross station
this morning alongside volunteers. [London, 6 November 2013] [3]

UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg makes a donation to the Poppy Appeal at a reception with British Muslims in Whitehall,
London, 6 November 2013

excerpt from: A million Muslims will defy radicals and wear poppies on Armistice Day

by Nigel Morris, The Independent, 7 November 2013

More than a million Muslims expected to wear poppies to mark Remembrance Sunday despite the hostility of Islamist hardliners.

Some radical voices argue that poppy-wearing, ceremonies to commemorate the fallen dead and the one minute's silence on Armistice Day are all forbidden to devout Muslims. But a survey shows that large numbers of people from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds, who comprise about two-thirds of the Muslim population, support poppy sales.

The think-tank British Future said the findings equated to 800,000 poppy-wearers from these two groups alone, and calculated the overall figure for the Muslim community to be well over one million. It released the research in an effort to counter charges that British Muslims are unpatriotic because of protests against UK troops returning from war zones.

Although they acknowledge that many Muslims are uncomfortable about military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, several major mosques have set up poppy stalls - in part to honour the thousands of Muslims killed in the First World War serving in the British Indian army.

Aged 10 to 17, “The Poppy Girls” sing at Poppy Appeal concert, Royal Air Force base in Northolt, 24 October 2013

The Royal British Legion launched their National Poppy Appeal with a star studded concert at RAF [Royal Air Force base in] Northolt on Thursday 24 October. Around 2,000 Service men and women, and their families, from RAF Northolt and further afield packed into the hangar to enjoy the free concert which launched the national Poppy Appeal. […]

“The Poppy Girls” who sang the official Poppy Appeal 2013 single “The Call (No Need to Say Goodbye)”, were brought together by the [Royal British] Legion after auditions of children of serving members of the armed services. [4]

"Democracy icon" Aung San Suu Kyi delivers a lecture to over 400 soldiers at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Surrey,
25 October 2013. The leader of Myanmar's main opposition leader's visit to Sandhurst has coincided with the launch of the
annual Poppy Appeal by the Royal British Legion was preceded by her meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron
in London.

"Actually, I have come here to learn rather than to teach because I want to learn what it takes to build a good professional army that is respected and loved by the people. This is the kind of army I want our Burmese Tatmadaw to be. […]

I myself have a great affection for the army. This has exposed me to much criticism […] But it is right that we should have respect and affection for an institution that is intended to be selfless. […]

When [the then head of British Armed Forces] General David Richards visited Burma a few months ago, we met him at the legislature and a question was put to him: “Do the British people love their army? ” He said “yes” and he said very proudly that, according to the polls, the British people admired the Army more than they admired the doctors and the medical profession. And then he was asked why, […] he said “We are seen as selfless. We sacrifice ourselves for [the] people” and he added: “Not just for our own people, but for people anywhere in the world who might be in need of protection and of the kind of military defence that would give them more secure and fulfilling lives.” "

[Speech delivered by Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar's main opposition party National League for Democracy, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Surrey, 25 October 2013] [5]

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Notes:

[1] London Poppy Day To Aim To Raise More Than £1Million In One Day

Getty Images, 7 November 2013

[2] Duke and Duchess of Cambridge surprise commuters with visit to High Street Kensington Tube station to boost poppy appeal

by Robert Jobson, London Evening Standard, 7 November 2013

[3] Nick Clegg and the Poppy Girls pitch in to help London raise £1m in a day

by Lindsay Watling, London Evening Standard, 6 November 2013

[4] Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal concert launch at RAF Northolt

Royal Air Force website, 29 October 2013

[5] Speech by Aung San Suu Kyi to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, 26 October 2013

Mashpedia, 5 November 2013