By KD Tait
For 18 months Britain has been at the centre of international opposition to Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian population in Gaza—at least on the streets. In the cabinet offices of Tory and Labour governments, Israel has been able to rely on our rulers’ ‘unconditional support’.
Fortnightly national protests, which at times brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets of London, did have an effect. Eventually Labour was forced into a mealy-mouthed demand for a ceasefire—but point-blank refused to end all the lucrative weapons sales or military cooperation with Israel and the US which enables the Zionist state to oppress the Palestinians and invade and menace its neighbours with impunity.
Although the Israeli government has been forced to agree to a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, it has simply shifted its focus from the devastated coastal enclave to the West Bank. Buoyed by the refusal of its allies to oppose a televised genocide, the IDF has laid siege to Jenin, a major town in the north of the occupied West Bank.
Protests against the genocide have not been limited to street marches. Direct action by groups like Palestine Action targeting Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit systems, Workers for a Free Palestine picketing British arms factories, and increasing public support for boycotts and divestment (BDS) are part of a growing ecosystem of resistance to British imperialism’s support for Israel.
On no other question is the government’s policy so out of step with the opinion of the majority of the people, never mind the majority of Labour voters. But that is about to change, not least because of the election of Donald Trump.
Keir Starmer and his sycophantic Foreign Secretary David Lammy do not want to be vilified as the defenders of oppressed people, especially Muslims. That, plus Israel’s reluctant acceptance of a ceasefire, has led them to clamp down on the right to protest in solidarity with Palestine. This has now become a key battleground.
Escalation
While anti-protest laws proliferated under a series of reactionary Tory home secretaries, Labour has pointedly refused to repeal them. In fact it is taking them further. The prosecution of Palestine solidarity activist Tony Greenstein under anti-terror legislation is an outrageous attack on freedom of speech. Direct actionists are regularly locked up for months without trial.
On 18 January there was a new escalation. The police, with the encouragement of the government, banned Palestine solidarity campaigners from marching on the BBC. A static rally held in Whitehall was subject to a slew of petty restrictions and heavy handed policing.
By the end of the day, 77 protesters had been arrested, including chief steward Chris Nineham and PSC leader Ben Jamal. This brazen attempt to shut down Palestine protests is a signal of what faces other movements.
The entire labour and trade union movement must come together to demand all charges are dropped against all those arrested on Saturday, and all those detained on other charges related to protests: over Palestine, the environment or self-defence against Tommy Robinson’s fascist supporters.
