Von der Leyen and Labour's hypocrisy has been laid bare

The National

3 days ago

'If they would be in Moscow, they would be in jail in two minutes.'
The words of Ursula von der Leyen, crackling to the crowd, from a few days ago; a response to a pro-Palestinian protester who had heckled the EU president.
Her words were a reminder of what separates the West from authoritarian regimes around the world, who are only too quick to respond with violence and intimidation when challenged – or perhaps, it would have been, if not for the quick camera pan to reveal the police dragging that very protester out of the crowd while Von der Leyen continued to wax lyrical on the wonders of liberal democracy.
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The genocide of Palestine has revealed the West's hypocrisies like no other moment in recent history.
Rather than oppose the slaughter and ethnic cleansing, it has over the past two years presented a near united front in support of the killing, while those who took action to oppose it are painted as villains and antisemites.
Could anyone honestly watch the news of more than 500 arrests for peacefully protesting this weekend and conclude that the UK Government cares an iota about the rights and civil liberties of the people of these islands?
I don't believe that any reasonable person could conclude that the protestors – sitting, silent, holding signs that read 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action' – are terrorists.
The Justice Secretary yesterday thanked the police for, I kid you not, 'their bravery and their courage' in confronting the uncontrollable mob of extremely sedate pensioners that had taken up position outside of Parliament.
How brave and strong they were, pulling a blind man in a wheelchair out the crowd. Such courage on display, as they swept through and physically picked up an 89-year-old woman and bundled her through a sea of innocuous signs.
If this seems like the kind of overreaction to peaceful protest that should sink a government, though, don't worry.
Both the Justice Secretary and the Home Secretary have confirmed to us that peaceful protest is a cornerstone of democracy in this country; words that I'm sure are of great comfort to everyone now facing up to 14 years in jail for holding a piece of paper.
(Image: PA)
In Moscow, you'd already be in jail. Yadda yadda yadda.
Though it's so strange. Despite Yvette Cooper's insistence that the right to protest is not under threat, it seems that not so long ago the Labour Government was fighting to resurrect the Conservative Party's authoritarian anti-protest legislation that was deemed unlawful.
The Court of Appeal, however, ruled against the Labour Government – the same people who had voted against those very Tory measures when in opposition.
But then again, there's no principle that Labour have been too afraid to abandon in their folly to bring Reform UK voters into the fold.
And while they proscribe Palestine Action – and insist that there are far more lurid details about why which they just can't share with the public – we've watched as far-right rioters have come dangerously close, over and over, to conducting a lynching of asylum seekers being held in hotels.
Now here's a crowd that Labour can get behind! Never mind your calls to stop genocide or take action on climate change or protect trans rights.
No, no, here is where we should find our moral compass (at least, that's what Tufton Street tells us, anyway).
And so, Labour turn again, and now their social media is flooded with anti-migrant rhetoric. Labour MP Melanie Onn sickly claims that increased immigration raids are 'cleaning up our high streets'.
David Lammy brags about his close friendship with United States vice-president JD Vance as the US fills concentration camps with migrants snatched by masked agents.
Clearly, the crowd throwing up Nazi salutes while trying to burn down hotels filled with human beings is far more reasonable than these radical leftists asking us to stop participating in a genocide.
Labour talking heads were taking to the airways to spit out the word 'terrorist' on repeat, when the news broke of the killing of Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif, along with fellow correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Noufal. Israel murdered the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City. Then Israel called them terrorists too.
Less than two weeks ago, the Committee To Protect Journalists said that Al-Sharif's life was in 'acute' danger, due to repeated threats from an Israeli military spokesperson.
A targeted Israeli air strike was aimed at a tent that Al-Sharif was staying in, near the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, where children are dying of starvation.
And still, Labour brand those opposing this as the real terrorists and tighten, tighten, tighten the laws around our very right to speak freely, to access content online and to challenge this heinous government – like a noose.
Later, Al-Sharif's will and final message were posted to social media. I'll share one part of it now: 'I have lived pain in all its details and tasted loss many times. Yet I never stopped telling the truth as it is, without falsification or distortion – so that God may bear witness over those who stayed silent, accepted our killing, and did nothing to stop the massacre our people have endured for more than a year and a half.
'I entrust you with Palestine – the jewel of the Muslim crown and the heartbeat of every free person in this world. I entrust you with its people and children, whose pure bodies have been crushed under Israeli bombs and missiles.
'Do not let chains silence you or borders restrain you. Be bridges toward the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland.'