I'm a journalist covering Palestine Action arrests. This is all absurd
Is this the new normal?
Is this just the way things are going to be from now on?
The scene: Friday, early afternoon, our Glasgow newsroom. One reporter is at a protest in Nelson Mandela Place, where an activist has been arrested for holding a sign stating "genocide in Palestine, time to take action". He is not the first to be arrested under new terror legislation – which came in less than a fortnight ago – proscribing the group Palestine Action.
Meanwhile, another reporter is filing copy detailing an important visit by one Major General Tomer Bar (below). You may not be familiar with this name but you will certainly know of his work. This man is the head of the Israeli air force and, according to Israeli media reports, approves all aerial attacks on Gaza. He has been welcomed to the UK, because he is here for the Royal International Air Tattoo event at RAF Fairford. His former boss Yoav Gallant, the ousted defence minister, is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.
We cover each story as best as we can.
We are well aware of how ridiculous this situation is.
We too are bound by the new law. Anything relating to Palestine Action goes straight to the lawyers for legal checking.
It has been like this all week. Last night another reporter informed me that somebody in Glasgow's southside had been arrested and charged; apparently they had a poster up which they'd forgotten about. Okay, I say. Write your draft up and I'll send it for legalling.
As I send the copy over, there is a screening of Doctors Under Attack (the film the BBC refused to show) on at Glasgow University. I commissioned a piece on it. The documentary tells the story of how Israel systematically destroyed Gaza's health system. It's absolutely harrowing. The people who decided to cause such carnage face no justice. In fact, these are the same people planning to force the people of Gaza into a camp which they will not be allowed to leave. [The National's description of this as a "concentration camp" prompted multiple letters complaining of antisemitism and demanding we issue a retraction/apology.]
READ MORE: Activist slams 'draconian' law as protester arrested at Palestine Action demo
None of it makes any sense to me, or our team.
The people doing the killing and destroying face no consequences. The people raising the alarm are taken away in handcuffs.
I wonder how many arrests our reporters will witness before the UK decides to take real action against Israel?
If this really is the new normal, Scotland shouldn't have anything to do with it.
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BreakingNews.ie
10 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Irish woman describes 'dystopian' experience of arrest at Palestine Action protest
An Irish woman who was among the 532 arrested in London over the weekend for carrying placards opposing the banning of the activist group Palestine Action has described the "dystopian" experience of her arrest. Limerick native Sinéad Ní Shiacáis travelled to London to join the peaceful protest. Metropolitan Police carried out a mass arrest that detained anyone carrying a sign saying, 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestinian Action'. Advertisement UK minister for justice Yvette Cooper's move to ban Palestine Action has been met with widespread opposition. In an interview with , Ms Ní Shiacáis said: "In all my years protesting I've never seen anything more dystopian. I've been protesting since I was young with my dad." Ms Ní Shiacáis is a climate campaigner, and she said her experience in London was the opposite of how protesters were treated at rallies she previously attended. "This one was extremely dystopian. We were arrested and carried into a van. They literally brought us around the corner to Westminster/Whitehall, it was a two minute drive around the corner, it was bizarre. Advertisement "I felt they were trying to make an example of us. Once we were on the street, they had gazebos up and we were made to wait outside. I even heard some police officers saying it was ridiculous." She said a number of people suffered medical emergencies. Like something out of Monty Python. "There were police officers processing evidence in the back of a van, it was like something out of Monty Python." She was taken to a police station where she was held for seven hours, before being released at 3am the following morning. Advertisement "Because I had no identification on me, after I was brought into the processing gazebo I was sent to Kentish Town Police Station. I was left there for seven hours and woken up abruptly at 3am by an officer who was extremely rude. "I didn't get to make a call for ages but then I rang my solicitor, he was really lovely and said if they ask for an interview he would come over. "They let me out at 3am, with no way of getting out of there. Luckily, there were volunteers from a climate charity who look after activists there. They gave me water and made sure I was OK, and got a taxi for me. "I was staying an hour and a half from London." Advertisement Ms Ní Shiacáis emphasised that protesters are "not the story". She expressed frustration at the Israeli government's consistent claims that murdered civilians have links to Hamas. "We have to take action because what's happening in Britain is an encroachment on our rights as citizens. Photo: Sinéad Ní Shiacáis "The journalist Anas Al-Sharif was killed in Gaza, the Israeli government keeps killing civilians and just claiming they were a member of Hamas." Advertisement She said she is not concerned about potential charges, adding that she feels individuals and governments need to do more to stop the violence in Gaza. We are not the story, the Palestinian people are the story. "I'm not anxious about being charged. I made the choice to go over, I knew what I was doing. What I'm more anxious about is the fact there are Palestinian people being obliterated, being annexed by Benjamin Netanyahu's government. "Our own government are not doing enough, they are dragging their heels on the Occupied Territories Bill, they're watering it down. "I'm privileged and I have civil liberties that I may have given up to take a stand, I'm more anxious that not enough people are doing enough. "We are not the story, the Palestinian people are the story. They are begging people to give them a voice. I'm not the story, the Palestinian people are the story, and hopefully more people will realise that."
North Wales Chronicle
24 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Palestine Action has committed ‘violence' and ‘significant injury', No 10 says
No 10 defended the move to ban the organisation under counter-terror laws, saying evidence and security assessments shared in closed court supported its proscription. Scotland Yard has said some 522 people were held over the weekend on suspicion of displaying an item in support of a proscribed group, out of the total 532 arrests during the policing operation at a march in central London. Palestine Action said Downing Street's accusations were 'false and defamatory' and 'disproven by the Government's own intelligence assessment'. The Government has said 'many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation' as the full details of the proscription process cannot be shared for national security reasons. Asked on Monday whether ministers were reconsidering the decision to designate the group as a terrorist organisation following mass arrests on Saturday, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'No. 'Palestine Action was proscribed based on strong security advice following serious attacks the group has committed involving violence, significant injury and extensive criminal damage.' Downing Street said the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre – an independent authority based within MI5 – had found the organisation had carried out three separate acts of terrorism. 'We've said that many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation, but the assessments are very clear: this is a violent organisation that has committed violence, significant injury and extensive criminal damage,' Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman said. Speaking to broadcasters earlier on Monday, justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said supporters of the group would face 'the full force of the law'. 'We have credible reports of them targeting Jewish-owned businesses here in the United Kingdom, and there are other reasons, which we can't disclose because of national security,' she told BBC Breakfast. Meanwhile, officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command will be working over the coming weeks to put together case files in relation to arrests made at a protest in London in Saturday, the force has said. The demonstration was held in Parliament Square on Saturday, organised by Defend Our Juries, with the Metropolitan Police warning it would detain anyone expressing support for Palestine Action. The majority of those arrested, 348, were aged 50 or over, according to a breakdown published by the Met on Sunday. Detained protesters were taken to prisoner processing points in the Westminster area. Those whose details could be confirmed were released on bail to appear at a police station at a future date. There were a further 10 arrests, six for assaults on officers, two for breaching Public Order Act conditions, one arrest for obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty, and one for a racially aggravated public order offence, the force said. Palestine Action's co-founder Huda Ammori said: 'Yvette Cooper and No 10's claim that Palestine Action is a violent organisation is false and defamatory, and even disproven by the Government's own intelligence assessment of Palestine Action's activities and the Home Office spokesperson's statement outside court just a few weeks ago.' Ms Ammori said it was revealed in court – during her ongoing legal challenge to the ban – that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre's assessment acknowledged that the group does not advocate for violence against persons and the majority of its activities would not be classified as terrorism. 'Spraying red paint on war planes is not terrorism. Disrupting Israel's largest weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems by trespassing on their sites in Britain is not terrorism,' she said. 'It is the Israeli Defence Force and all those who arm and enable their war crimes who are the terrorists.' She claimed the reason the Government has banned the group is 'because they capitulated to the Israeli embassy, arms manufacturers and pro-Israeli groups who lobbied them to ban us'.
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The Independent
39 minutes ago
- The Independent
Palestine Action demonstrators should not be prosecuted for placards
The demonstrations in support of Palestine Action were an inspired piece of public relations by that organisation, but we should not be taken in. The Terrorism Act 2000 defines terrorism as including action involving ' serious damage to property ' in support of a political objective. This definition is in line with international norms and seems entirely appropriate. By that test, Palestine Action is a terrorist organisation. It is dedicated to committing criminal damage against public and private property in protest against Israel's actions in Gaza and Britain's alleged involvement in it. It had vandalised property over on a number of occasions even before the breaking at RAF Brize Norton. Criminal damage is not a legitimate form of protest. Supporting the Palestinian cause and supporting Palestine Action are two quite separate things. Supporting the Palestinian cause is a natural reaction to the appalling scenes of destruction, deliberate starvation and indiscriminate killing by the Israeli army in Gaza. Demonstrating against that is a legitimate form of protest. Support for Palestine Action is something different. It means not just supporting the Palestinian cause but supporting a method of protest which is violent and criminal. One can express one's disgust at Israel's conduct in Gaza without adopting Palestine Action's methods. The Terrorism Act creates an offence of supporting a proscribed organization. It precisely defines what acts amount to support. One of them is wearing, carrying or displaying an article giving rise to a reasonable suspicion that the person supports the proscribed organisation. This is far too wide. Merely indicating your support for a terrorist organisation without doing anything to assist or further its acts should not be a criminal offence and is not consistent with basic rights to free speech. It looks as if Palestine Action has deliberately courted trouble by encouraging people to carry placards with messages specially designed to commit the offence. Martyrdom sometimes has a political value. It was necessary for the home secretary to proscribe Palestine Action if she wished to disrupt its funding and discourage people from actively assisting its programme of violence. That is a reasonable political objective. Unfortunately, the home secretary cannot proscribe an organisation without also making it a criminal offence to carry placards supporting it. For the demonstrators the solution is simple enough. Oppose Israeli violence but do not support Palestine Action's violence. For the prosecuting authorities, there is also a simple solution. The director of prosecution's consent is required for any prosecution of those who have been arrested. Where a demonstrator acted peacefully, he would be wise not to authorise a prosecution. People courting martyrdom should not be indulged. In the longer term, the right course would be to amend the Terrorism Act so as to redefine in a more sensible way the offence of supporting a proscribed organisation.
