• A pro-Palestinian activist was brutally attacked, detained by police, and released without charge.
• After a string of arrests of pro-Palestinian activists, it becomes apparent that the police are indeed institutionally in the pro-Israeli camp.
After a cowardly attack on a pro-Palestinian activist by the Metropolitan Police, a petition has been launched calling for Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley to immediately suspend the police officer involved in the brutal assault.
What truly happened on Friday?
After a grotesque misuse of authority, a pro-Palestinian activist seen in Whitechapel, in the east of London, was arrested and detained for hours on end. It can be seen in the video quite clearly that the individual was not armed, nor posed any threat to the people around him, and could even be heard saying, ‘I haven’t done anything’. The activist was detained at Bethnal Green Police Station, and as news of the incident quickly spread, the local community gathered around the station, demanding that the activist be released.
The news of the incident circulated on social media quickly, and it was only a matter of time before the local mayor and community activists would have heard of the news. It was in no time that Ajmal Masroor, a candidate in the recent election who tried to topple Labour from the constituency, arrived at the station to show solidarity. Not too long after the independent mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, who defeated Labour in a shocking extraordinary mayoral election two years ago, arrived at the scene to call for the release of the detainee.
After hours in detention, the activist was finally released by police without charge or conviction. The activist was given a warm welcome by ecstatic protesters, who welcomed him in masse.
A string of repressions from the Met
This is not the first time an activist was arrested without charge; rather, it is the third time activists involved in Palestinian activism were arrested in less than a month. On June 26th, Rabbani, the director of CAGE, an organisation that stands up for the rights of Palestinians, was arrested for simply holding up a placard of Rishi Sunak and a coconut.
CAGE director and employees were arrested in late June for showing solidarity with a pro-Palestinain protester by holding a placard of Sunak with a coconut
It was later, during election day, that a group of protesters protesting against Rushanara Ali, the labour candidate in Bethnal Green and Stepney, were arrested for simply protesting and voicing out against the genocidal complicity that the candidate has. They were released without charge, conviction, or even an interview.
Pro-Palestinian protester arrested on election day for peacefully protesting against labour MP
The repressive laws enacted in 2022 that have gone unnoticed
The string of repressive arrests is not by coincidence; rather, it has only reached the surface of attention. It was in April 2022 that the government of the United Kingdom enacted ‘The Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Act’. The act is far-reaching and covers a wide range of topics, including police powers, sentencing, and protest laws. Civil liberties campaigners and environmental activists argue that the new protest laws are too restrictive and infringe on the rights of freedom of expression.
One of the most controversial aspects of the repressive 2022 Act is the new powers it grants to the police. For example, it allows police officers to place more conditions on protests and demonstrations, including imposing start and end times, location restrictions, and maximum noise levels. This means the police have a choice when to end a protest, and with protests starting soon after an announcement like the one in Bethnal Green Station, they can choose via their own will without any reason to end peaceful protests. This act is something that other modern democracies do not have the legality to implement. This act also makes it easier for police to use stop and search powers, allowing them to search individuals without reasonable suspicion in specific locations. The arrest of the pro-Palestinian activist who was released on Friday may well have been a victim of this aspect of this repressive law.
What does this mean for the future of UK freedoms when it comes to protests?
The mainstream media had kept relatively silent when the 2022 Act was enabled. It meant that politicians or MPs who would have normally been vocal about the repression of freedom of speech had less incentive to talk about it or do anything about it. It’s very possible the mainstream media acted in coordination with the government to get this act through parliament in order to prevent future protests and movements from causing radical change. Although this cannot be confirmed, if true, it may mean that in the future, as activists navigate around these laws, more repressive laws will be put in place, with the mainstream media also being silent in this endeavour. All in all, the arrest on Friday exposed the repressive trajectory of freedoms in the UK.
