OF CABBAGES AND KINGS | Why Are Peaceful Protesters Over Palestine ‘Justice’ Being Held in UK? | Farrukh Dhondy

“I was in love with Tom and his Dick

Until Harry came along.

I realise it may sound sick

To include all three in this song

But truth to tell, I’ve changed each name

Now I’m married to quite another --

Are the dispositions of all males to blame

Or did I learn to skip men from my mother?”

From Kabhi Kabhi Merey Gharmey Polees Aa Jaathaa Hein, by Bachchoo

John Farley is a retired head teacher from Leeds. A fortnight ago, he joined a demonstration in favour of justice for Palestine, which supports an immediate ceasefire, an end to starvation and genocidal bombing and a recognition of the Palestinian state.

Mr Farley carried a placard with a satirical prose poster from the magazine Private Eye. The placard said:

PALESTINE ACTION EXPLAINED

X Unacceptable Palestine Action

Spraying military planes with paint

Acceptable Palestine Action

Shooting Palestinians queuing for food.”

Farley was arrested at the scene, thrown into a van and taken to a police cell. He was subsequently released without bail and no charges were brought.

What crime had he committed? He was arrested under the Terrorism Act, which makes it a crime to support any group designated “terrorist”.

A group called Palestine Action has been declared “terrorist” by the present Labour government after two of its activists broke into a Royal Air Force military base at Brize Norton, near Oxford. They rode scooters towards two Voyager aircraft, avoiding apprehension, and sprayed the planes with red paint.

To be fair to the Keir Starmer government, the activists didn’t just spray the outsides of the planes but sprayed their jet engines causing, according to government claims, £7 million worth of damage.

It is also true that the Voyager aircraft have not been involved in the Israeli attacks on Palestine but were certainly deployed in the Middle East against the Islamic State (ISIS) and against the Houthi rebels.

So, the paint incident had them classified as “terrorists”, which classifies anyone supporting them and using the name Palestine Action, while promoting protests against arms sales to Israel, as “criminals” liable to arrest.

The protest of demonstrators supporting Palestine Action in peaceful parades and gatherings, including some like John Farley carrying placards and others carrying Palestine flags, began in earnest in mid-July and have continued in very many cities in Britain through August and into the first week of September.

A total of 512 people were arrested in London in mid-August. The total number of arrests is now thought to exceed 800. These arrestees have been released and sent their notices of criminal charges under the Anti-Terrorism Act by post.

Their trials, it is expected, with the UK criminal justice system and courts under heavy pressure from real crime rather than this proscription of peaceful “free speech”, will take place in October.

As with John Farley, even if the accused and charged are acquitted without fines or sentences, the fact that they were charged under a criminal law will affect their lives, for instance in assessments of travel and insurance.

It may be understandable that damaging the country’s military equipment calls for some severe action, but arresting hundreds of people for simple peaceful protests which were not calling for damage to more military equipment but for an end to genocide and starvation doesn’t seem fair.

Which of course raises questions about “freedom of thought and speech”, which Britain finds so close to its tradition and heart. Indeed, a character called Toby Young has appointed himself the chair of some “Free Speech Union”, which campaigns for people to say what they like, however offensive to others. He recently led a campaign to prohibit a local council from banning swear words in public. Fair enough. But did Toby Young raise even a squeak about the arrest of peaceful supporters of Palestine Action expressing their opinion through demonstrating? Is the Pope a devout Muslim?

Come on Toby, the English word for you starts with the syllable that sounds like “hippo” and it doesn’t end with “potamus” or “drome”.

A central political irritant in today’s Britain is the question of hundreds, if not thousands of asylum seekers coming across the English Channel from France in dodgy rubber dinghies. Once here, they are treated with a vestige of decency by being housed in hostel and hotels till their applications for asylum are processed.

It is undoubtedly a cost to the British taxpayer and at some of these asylum-seeker residences crowds have gathered to protest against their presence. Some of these crowds are ordinary citizens protesting against what they see as a cultural erosion of Britain or burden on the state. Others are plain extreme right-wing racist thugs.

Counter-demonstrations of anti-racists gather at the same venues to protest against them. The police arrested several of the thugs when they’ve turned violent. Five of them, wearing masks and carrying instruments to break the surrounding barriers, invaded one of these hotels last week and were arrested.

The freedom-of-speech-wallas wrote fervent articles and posts calling these arrests “two-tier policing” as none of the anti-racists, who did nothing provocative or illegal, were arrested.

Even Elon Musk, now the Lone Musketeer, has joined the boobies with messages on X saying that Britain has a “two-tier” policing system.

Not a murmur from these same free-speechers about the arrest of Palestine supporters. “Two-tier freedom of opinion” indeed!