The thousands calling for a ceasefire and peace deserve better than abuse and belittlement | Aditya Chakrabortty

Politicians and much of the media ignore, stereotype and demonise protesters. This lack of engagement is a risk to us all

As a million Britons marched through London in 2003 against war with Iraq, William Rees-Mogg gazed on from outside the Athenaeum Club in Pall Mall. In the Times, he sniffed at the protesters' outfits (they dressed as they might for a football match") and scowled at their arguments. However well-intentioned, their very presence helped maintain the torture chambers of Baghdad". They were, he said, Saddam's useful idiots".

Those protesters were as British as the former Times editor, but that didn't matter. The country was at war against an axis of evil". It was us versus them, and those who objected or worried or wanted more evidence were little more than traitors.