A year and a day ago [article published 6 July 2026], octogenarian priest Sue Parfitt told Novara Media, “we cannot be bystanders”. Moments later, she became one of the first people in the country to be arrested under a draconian new law that many didn’t believe could be enforced.
Parfitt had, of course, defied the proscription of direct action group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, after a ban came into effect at 00.01 the night before.
Onlookers, who surrounded the group and chanted “free, free Palestine”, said they were shocked to see her and 28 other mostly elderly protesters bundled into police vans simply for holding up paper signs. Parfitt said she hoped “common sense would prevail” and that the new law would be immediately overturned.
We expected that might happen, too. In the first few weeks, the UN, Amnesty International, many other NGOs and dozens of public figures condemned the ban as a “disturbing legal overreach” with chilling repercussions for freedom of speech and assembly. As more and more people vowed to break the law, things looked pretty bad for the British government and its loyal, miserable police force.
But twelve months later – despite judges siding with Palestine Action across three of four court hearings, and initially finding the ban unlawful – the proscription has held.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Nigel Farage objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
NAKBA 78: Protesters on the huge London rally on the anniversary of the Nakba in May
History suggests apartheid ends not through appeals to conscience alone but through sustained economic and political pressure, says HUGH LANNING
…
With every red line it crosses from the Nakba to genocide, Israel reveals its contempt for international law. It revels in the impunity the Western world grants that result partly from guilt rightly felt for the horrific crimes we inflicted on Jewish people in our countries, not just in the second world war, but over centuries of antisemitism, which is still ongoing.
But also, because Israel is a major part of the West’s colonial and now neoliberal strategy in the Middle East.
Under the protective wing of an increasingly authoritarian US and led by the ever-stronger fascist and racist tendencies within, Israel believes it has a generational opportunity to conquer Palestine completely and establish the zionist dream of a “greater Israel” from the river to the sea.
The mentality is: “If we got away with genocide in Gaza, we can get away with anything.”
How is this avalanche of violence, death and atrocity to be stopped? Well, not by the mealy mouthed “sanctions” recently announced by Yvette Cooper. When is a sanction not a sanction? When it does nothing to the perpetrators of the crime. Under international law the official role of sanctions is to bring pressure to bear on the miscreants to achieve compliance.
The token measures announced “target individuals and entities involved in financing and enabling settler violence in the occupied West Bank.” No mention of the Israeli state.
The Israeli government is a settler government; the forcible settlement of the West Bank is its official policy. It legalises and legitimises even the outlier settlements illegal under Israeli law. The IDF either stands idly by or actively protects and supports the settlers as they go about their violent business. Not surprisingly as many of the soldiers are themselves settlers — brothers and sisters of those committing the crimes.
The government itself is riddled by members of extreme settler parties. Indeed, Israel is a settler colonial entity, all but a few of its citizens are settlers.
…
Apart from an arms embargo on the two-way trade with Israel, the new Burnham government ought to institute an audit of all government, local and national, expenditure, contracts and co-operation to identify and stop any support for companies engaged in supporting the settlements and the occupation — Oracle and Palantir being obvious examples.
As the US has done with Russia and supporters of Palestine — follow the money. The war, the occupation, the settlements are all funded with much investment and finance coming from abroad and being channelled through British financial institutions. This should be stopped.
The EU has a positive trade agreement with Israel treating it an as associate member which Britain is trying to replicate following Brexit. These trade agreements should be ended.
The government and its representatives ought to support, not block, moves in international bodies to ban and boycott Israel — be it Fifa or Eurovision — Israel should be treated as the apartheid state it is.
So complicit has the British state been for decades, the list of what could be done is almost endless.
…
Hugh Lanning will be among the speakers at a Labour and Palestine online event on Tuesday July 7 looking at ending Britain’s role in crimes against the Palestinian people. Find out more and register for the meeting at bit.ly/endukcomplicity.
Join the National March for Palestine July 18 in central London at noon. Visit palestinecampaign.org for more details.
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/Genocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The head of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. [dr.hussam73/Instagram]
Rights activists and a lawyer said on Sunday that Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Gaza Strip, is facing a serious risk to his health while in Israeli detention.
Abu Safiya was arrested around 18 months ago during the Gaza war. Israel has accused him of having links to the Palestinian group Hamas.
Following a visit to Abu Safiya last Thursday, his lawyer, Nasser Odeh, said his client’s health had deteriorated severely. The visit took place at the Rakefet underground interrogation facility inside Nitzan Prison.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel
The Israeli rights group Physicians for Human Rights Israel and lawyer Odeh called for Abu Safiya to be transferred immediately from the facility and for an urgent judicial visit to assess his medical condition.
According to the rights group, Odeh said in a written statement that Abu Safiya was brought to the meeting with his hands and feet shackled and had severe recent injuries to his head, around his eyes, ears and neck, “to the extent that his lawyer initially struggled to recognise him.”
The organisation added that Abu Safiya was experiencing difficulty breathing and speaking continuously, and appeared to be in an extremely weak physical condition.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The British Union flag on the Houses of Parliament in London, UK, on Friday, July 5, 2024. [Photographer: Jose Sarmento Matos/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Dozens of British parliamentarians have urged the UK government to impose sanctions on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his justice minister, Yariv Levin, over the “systematic and well-documented torture” of Palestinian civilians in Israeli detention.
According to Sky News, 71 cross-party MPs and peers signed a letter to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper calling on Britain to “help end this impunity” by targeting Netanyahu and Levin, who also serves as deputy prime minister, interior minister and religious services minister.
The letter, led by Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan, argues that responsibility for the alleged abuse of Palestinian detainees “lies with the government of Israel, including Prime Minister Netanyahu”. It follows the UK’s decision last year to sanction Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich over their extremist comments and conduct towards Palestinians.
The parliamentarians said those measures “remain welcome” but have failed to change Israel’s treatment of Palestinian detainees. Since then, they warned, the situation has “escalated, with near total impunity”.
The letter cites a February 2026 UN report which found that “torture has become integral” to Israel’s domination and punishment of Palestinian men, women and children, including through custodial abuse, forced displacement, mass killings, deprivation and the destruction of the means of life.
MPs also pointed to Netanyahu’s praise for a decision by Israel’s military advocate to drop charges in March in a case involving the alleged rape of a Palestinian detainee by Israeli soldiers, part of which was reportedly captured on CCTV.
They further cited the interception in April and May of the Global Sumud Flotilla and Freedom Flotilla Coalition by Israeli naval forces in international waters. British nationals were among those detained, and detainees alleged that they were beaten and shot. Footage of their treatment was later shared online by Ben-Gvir, Sky News reported.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told Sky News that reports of mistreatment of detainees by Israeli forces were “disgraceful” and said the UK had raised the issue with the Israeli government.
“All detainees must be treated with dignity and in full accordance with international law, and any allegations of torture or mistreatment must be thoroughly investigated,” the spokesperson said.
The Foreign Office also called on Israel to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross “immediate and unrestricted access to all detention facilities”, adding that it was “completely unacceptable” that hundreds of Palestinian children are reportedly held in Israeli detention without charge for months.
The letter was signed by 30 Labour MPs and seven Labour peers, as well as representatives from the Greens, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein, the SDLP, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, the Conservatives, crossbench peers and non-affiliated members of the House of Lords.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
SAVING LIVES is not terrorism, protesters chanted outside Scotland Yard on Sunday as they marked one year since Palestine Action was banned as a terror group.
An 84-year-old retired priest was arrested for showing her support for the proscribed organisation alongside 13 other activists standing against British complicity in Israel’s war crimes.
Protesters gathered outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters in central London chanting slogans and holding banners, following a Court of Appeals ruling last month which found the ban on Palestine Action to be lawful.
…
Sunday’s protest saw 14 protesters including the Reverend Sue Parfitt arrested by police for disobeying the ban.
The retired 84-year-old Anglican priest and former nun was among those who shouted their support for Palestine Action, standing on a soapbox holding on which the words “I oppose genocide” were written.
Leading the campaign against the ban, Defend Our Juries (DOJ) said protesters were arrested under section 12 of the Terrorism Act, “a far more serious charge than the section 13 charge for which those holding signs have previously been arrested.”
A DOJ spokesperson said yesterday’s protest marked “a substantial escalation in their campaign” called “Saving Lives is Not Terrorism.”
…
Reverend Parfitt told the crowd through a megaphone: “So what can I do at my age and my frailty, very little — I do what I can to support the Palestinians.
“One of the best things that I can do is to support the organisation known as Palestine Action because they have been brave enough to smash up the weapons that are producing the genocide.
“So I ask you too to support Palestine Action.”
…
Amnesty International UK marked the one-year anniversary of the ban warning that “treating protest as terrorism leaves the door wide open for governments to suppress protest movements in the future, while clamping down on solidarity with Palestinians right now.”
The human rights organisation highlighted that at least 3,300 people have been arrested “for holding placards” since the proscription.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.Palestine Action dismantle Elbit equipment, 6 August 2024. (Photo: Handout)
NAKBA 78: Protesters on the huge London rally on the anniversary of the Nakba in May
