Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

“When the law is used as a tool to crush civil liberties, it does not extinguish dissent—it strengthens it,” said the group who faced nearly 900 arrests over the weekend for peaceful protest.

A mural by the world-renowned street artist Banksy depicting a judge magistrate beating a bloodied demonstrator on the ground with his gavel appeared Monday morning outside the Royal Courts of Justice building in London—a piece of commentary on the ongoing controversy surrounding the right to free speech in the UK when it comes to Palestinian rights.

The new artwork, which the artist confirmed was his in an Instagram post, comes amid uproar over a UK government law that has been used to ban individuals and entire groups from protesting under anti-terrorism laws.

On Saturday, nearly 900 people were arrested during a protest led by a group called Defend Our Juries, which has been calling for the lifting of a blanket ban on a separate group, the nonviolent Palestine Action, deemed a terrorist supporter in relation to its advocacy of Palestinian rights and a demand for an end to the genocide in Gaza.

The Met Police reported that 890 people were arrested in total on Saturday. Of those, 857 were arrested for the sole offense of voicing their support for Palestine Action, now a crime in the UK. The other 33 arrests were for various infractions, including 17 for assault of police officers.

Banksy’s artwork was seen as a keen commentary on the subject.

London-based journalist Barry Malone called the piece “extremely powerful,” especially given the context. “The timing, the placement,” he said. “It’s perfect.”

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In a statement Sunday about the weekend’s arrest, Amnesty International’s director of campaigns and communications, Kerry Mascogiuri, said the “staggering number of arrests” by police at a “peaceful protest marks a new low for protest rights in this country.”

“It’s completely ridiculous for police to be targeting and arresting people for sitting down, quietly holding a sign,” Mascogiuri said.

She said observers from Amnesty witnessed how the crowd was “entirely peaceful,” despite some people hurling insults at officers. She said it was a misrepresentation to say that protesters became violent, though some did try to prevent those targeted for arrest from being carried away.

“Police officers, on a number of occasions, were aggressive towards supporters of the protest,” Mascogiuri added. “This included violently shoving people away and pulling out batons to make space whilst protesters were arrested and hauled into police vans.

“Peaceful protest is a fundamental right,” she concluded. “The scenes yesterday were a shocking demonstration of how the UK’s overly broad terrorism laws are being used to suppress free speech.”

Meanwhile, outside the High Court in London on Monday, security guards and metal barriers were promptly dispatched to cover up the mural.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said the work by Banksy “powerfully depicts the brutality unleashed” on peaceful protesters by the former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who led the prohibition against Palestine Action.

“When the law is used as a tool to crush civil liberties, it does not extinguish dissent–it strengthens it,” the spokesperson continued.

“As Banksy’s artwork shows, the state can try to strip away our civil liberties, but we are too many in number and our resolve to stand against injustice cannot be beaten—our movement against the ban is unstoppable and growing every day,” they said. “We hope everyone who is moved by Banksy’s inspiring work of art will join our next action, which will be announced soon.”

Original article by Jon Queally republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).