I was invited by a friend to go with him to Macklemore’s Free Palestine concert at Wembley arena last Friday. I declined because I feared arrest and accusations of antisemitism. Was I being cowardly? Or adjusting to the current oppressive reality?
This week, the Supreme Court hearing began to decide whether the UK government’s proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist group is legal or not. This February, the High Court ruled that designating the movement as such was unlawful. The Government appealed and won. The Supreme Court will now have the final say.
If the Government wins, we will see more people of conscience – many of them pensioners – being rounded up, arrested and dragged off as they peacefully protest. More than 4000 people have been arrested for supporting the group since it was proscribed. Barristers and teachers are under tremendous pressure for expressing disquiet about the collective, endless punishment and killing of those in Gaza who had nothing to do with the horrendous Hamas attack on 7 October 2023. Israel’s actions and the pain of its victims have become normalised.
I have had sleepless nights recently. I wake up intensely anxious about the authoritarian instincts of our Labour government and am haunted by the documentary . Made by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, it features anonymised soldiers from the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) talking about how “insanely fun” it is to use high tech methods to kill targets – including children.
The tepid criticisms of Israel by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband in September were too little to late. He said he felt a “deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the eyes of the international community”, and that it was “a stain on the conscience of the world and of this country too”. The government then announced sanctions on goods from the occupied West Bank but little has been done since to stop Israel continuing its onslaught on Gaza.
Our politicians need to heed messages sent by many voters in the US midterms this week on how much we care about the plight of Palestinians. Abdul El-Sayed and Adam Hamawy, both of Egyptian heritage, got into the Senate, and Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Palestinian Rashida Tlaib were re-elected. All are vocal critics of Israel’s military acts and its influence in the US. Hamawy went alongside other US doctors to provide medical care to wounded Palestinians in 2024.
More than half of Americans (56 per cent) now believe US military aid to Israel should be decreased. Researchers say this represents the coolest feelings towards Israel on record. Perhaps in a last ditch attempt to win votes, Trump announced on Tuesday the US will end its military aid to Israel.
Similar sentiments exist in the UK and our politicians would do well to listen. A recent YouGov poll for Medical Aid for Palestinians found that 62 per cent of the British public oppose Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza and the West Bank and 54 per cent support the UK government ending all arms exports to Israel.
We who stand by Palestinians will carry on and overcome our fears. The US elections shows you cannot silence the moral voice forever. The High Court judgement on Palestine Action is a test. Are we a liberal democracy with inviolable rights to hold opinions and freely protest?
Learn from the US election results, Mr Burnham: Affability only goes so far. For countless Britons of all backgrounds the Palestinian issue matters profoundly. Ignore them and you imperil Labour’s future.