Smug protesters

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? Because not that it makes even an iota of difference to people caught up in the violence in Gaza, but there seems to be a lot of it about. For every pro-Palestinian rally there has been in the UK in recent days, there have been whispers among those supporting the other side along the lines of - "Did you see who was at that meeting? Why, none other than [insert name of former dissident/paramilitary/separatist/Islamist/green-haired unicycling freak of nature here]!!! Nice bunch of people... NOT." Yes, obviously they're not nice people, but their attendance doesn't automatically invalidate the cause of the march, nor does it mean that everyone who supports it are ranting loonies. Anyway, as I said,not like it makes a blind bit of difference to the people living in the warzone.