We asked Starmer’s MPs about Gaza – they ran away
“No One Can Say We Didn’t Know”: Greta Thunberg, Others Speak After Israeli Detention
It starts with Palestine protests. But where will the crackdown on Britain’s democratic freedoms end?
dizzy: This is a small excerpt (the closing paragraphs) of a long Guardian article by journalist Owen Jones. The whole article is recommended. Will these new laws lead to widespread challenges just as the proscription of Palestine Action has done? Is it too much to expect the arrogant Zionist Labour government to learn from it’s mistakes?
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On the same day as the synagogue attack, the Israeli army killed at least 57 Palestinians in Gaza – another hideous tally in two years of daily atrocities that have left tens of thousands dead. British politicians and media outlets have barely concealed the lack of value they attach to Palestinian life. It is among the most brazen expressions of racism of our time. One wonders how history will judge this moment: politicians are accusing people who are protesting against genocide of inciting hatred, while they are supporting those who are committing genocide.
Our government has already crossed a dangerous threshold by proscribing Palestine Action, a non-violent, anti-genocide direct action group. More than 2,000 British protesters have been arrested, mostly for holding placards opposing genocide and supporting the banned organisation. Many of them are pensioners; one is a retired priest, another the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. When the state begins calling movements “terrorism” when they are nothing of the sort, it is attacking democracy itself.
It’s not hard to see where this all leads. In the US, Democrats helped to demonise pro-Palestinian protests: the former house speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that some were “connected to Russia”, while Joe Biden called such protests antisemitic. In doing so, they only helped to legitimise the authoritarian crackdown on such protests – and on freedom of expression in general – under Donald Trump. If Nigel Farage becomes prime minister, a hard-right government would be granted sweeping powers to control dissent. What do you think a Reform government would do with this repressive toolkit? Our ancestors struggled, suffered and died to secure our freedoms. We will come to rue how casually we let them go.
Original article at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/06/palestine-protests-labour-democratic-freedoms-nigel-farage
The right to protest is fundamental in any democratic society and must be defended
Statement by Stop the War Coalition on the right to protest
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Prime Minister Keir Starmer are seeking to weaponise the situation to ramp up the attack on the Palestine movement, with talk of “repeated protests” being a drain on police resources, the Stop the War Coalition has said.
In response to the home secretary’s announcement of plans to crack down on pro-Palestine protests, Stop the War convenor Lindsey German said:
“Stop the War is alarmed that the UK government intends to introduce greater restrictions on the right to protest in the wake of the appalling attack at the Manchester synagogue.
“It defies logic for the Home Secretary to suggest that there should be limits placed on how often people can protest against a genocide that has been waged on the people of Gaza for two years.
“Marches organised by the Palestine coalition, which Stop the War is a part of, have been attended by hundreds of thousands of people, and we believe they are representative of majority public opinion in this country which wants to see an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people.
“We condemn the attack on the Manchester synagogue, just as we condemn recent attacks on mosques and hotels accommodating asylum seekers.
“We wholeheartedly reject the implication that our peaceful marches are in any way responsible for the attack.
“Stop the War has never conflated Israel’s illegal actions with the British Jewish community and will continue to vociferously oppose any attempt to do so.
“Our movement is multi-ethnic, peaceful and opposed to all forms of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia.
“Thousands of Jewish people have taken part in our demonstrations, many as part of an organised block, and will continue to do so.
“The Palestine coalition has already faced more severe restrictions on our right to assemble and protest than any other protest group, and we oppose any attempts by the government to intensify this.
“The right to protest is fundamental in any democratic society and must be defended – we will be working with others to do this in the coming months.
“We call on all our supporters to join the Palestine coalition on the streets of London next Saturday (11 October) for what will be the thirty-second national demonstration for Palestine.
“This will be another massive mobilisation of support for the Palestinians, but also an expression of our absolute commitment to defend the right to protest.”
Gaza death toll tops 67,100 amid Israel’s genocidal war
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At least 67,139 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, Anadolu reports.
A ministry statement said that 65 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last 24 hours, while 153 people were injured, taking the number of injuries to 169,583 in the Israeli onslaught.
“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
It also noted that two Palestinians were killed and 30 others injured by Israeli army fire while trying to get humanitarian aid in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed while seeking aid to 2,605, with over 19,124 others wounded since May 27.
The Israeli army resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip on March 18 and has since killed 13,549 people and injured 57,542 others, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
2 years of genocide: Gaza aid workers face hunger, death alongside those they help
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