Record numbers of people have taken to the streets since 7 October to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. Hundreds of thousands have joined the national Palestine demonstrations in London, while thousands more have taken part in local rallies and protests up and down the country. Never a day goes by without action.
The pace of the campaign has been unprecedented. More energised and determined even than at the height of the build up to the US/UK war on Iraq.
And that’s what scares the imperialist British state most. The government continues to escalate its attacks on the pro-Palestine movement, with Rishi Sunak and James Cleverly issuing further threats to clampdown on the right to protest.
They call us the ‘mob’. They demonise our huge demonstrations for peace as threatening ‘hate marches’. Sunak takes to the podium outside No 10 to plea for unity against “extremists” and urges the police to “take action” against anyone expressing support for terrorist organisations on our protests.
Of course, the real extremists, like Liz Truss and Suella Braverman, are welcomed in his party. If the Prime Minister cares so much about democracy he should call an election. Let’s see how much support his repressive views have.
Cleverly initially tried a slightly different approach. He told us we’d made our point, that the demonstrations had had their day. As if we do it once and then forget about the genocide still going on.
Though it’s reassuring to know we’ve made our point, given the frequency with which politicians tell us demonstrations don’t make a difference.
The Home Secretary said people should be making their protest through the ballot box instead. Yet, when they do, like in Rochdale, they tell the electorate that they’re Islamists and full of hate.
YouGov polling tells us 66% of people in this country want an immediate Gaza ceasefire. That’s not 66% of Muslims, it’s of the whole of society. Which is why no amount of threats and bullying by ministers will stop the hundreds of thousands – the majority of them women – who pour onto the streets to demand one.
Sunak and Cleverly should recognise that the protests are not extremism but represent majority views in this country – unlike the politicians who are supporting Israel’s war on Gaza. We are continuing to march, in spite of our peaceful mass protests increasingly seeing unprecedented restrictions.
From the start, this movement for Palestine has been treated differently by the police to any other comparable campaign. The Met has very publicly mobilised record numbers of police from across the country for the demonstrations and from the negotiation process through to the attitude of the officers on the ground the policing has been much more hostile than is usual for large public protests.
We’ve had attempted bans, with the police facing huge pressure from the then Home Secretary to stop us marching on Armistice Day, and efforts to stop us going down Whitehall to the political centre of London or through commercial areas.
On 17 February we were refused permission to assemble near Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, the traditional centre of protest and free speech in the capital. No reason was given.
Then there are the restriction orders. The police have used Sections 12, 14 and 60 of the Public Order Act to impose conditions on every single one of our demonstrations. This is unheard of for large, negotiated peaceful protest.
Such restrictions are previously unknown to organisers of trade union and anti-austerity demonstrations or indeed protests against the Iraq, Syria, Libya and Ukraine wars. They have not been used for the recent pro-Israel demonstrations.
The police have also attempted to intimidate protestors. Our stewards have witnessed several violent arrests of individuals on spurious grounds, almost always for ‘offences’ involving face coverings, slogans, placards or publications that the police object to. In one case it was for ‘being in possession of stickers’ with the intent of causing criminal damage. There has rarely been a charge.
We’ve sent two dossiers and one letter to the Met of examples of restrictive, politicised, and heavy-handed policing during demonstrations.
And now we have the former Labour MP John Woodcock, Lord Walney, the government’s extremism adviser, proposing we pay for the policing of our demos, a service we haven’t requested and do not need, and that MPs and councillors cannot engage with the groups that organise the Palestine marches until they “cut the hate”.
Woodcock went on an expenses-paid trip to Israel while it was attacking Gaza. Don’t talk to us about extremism.
The long tradition of freedom of protest and expression in this country is under threat. Defending the right to protest has never been more critical. Stop the War’s public meeting on Tuesday 12 March will examine the issues and our response to the attacks. And let there be no doubt. We will continue to march. There’s never been a more important time to do so. So join us on the streets on Saturday as we march from Hyde Park Corner to the US Embassy in Nine Elms.
Jennie Walsh for Labour Outlook