UK Politics

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If a blind protester in a wheelchair is considered a terrorist, anyone can be treated as a terrorist (www.councilestatemedia.uk)

submitted 4 days ago by geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml to c/uk_politics@feddit.uk

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Yesterday marked one of the most shameful days in the history of the Metropolitan Police as they arrested peaceful protesters including a blind man in a wheelchair, an 81-year-old woman with Parkinson's, a former British army officer, and a bunch of, um, Quakers. All of them were protesting against two things: the UK's ongoing participation in the Gaza genocide and the proscription of Palestine Action. All of them were arrested under the Terrorism Act.

Imagine being the police officer whose job it was to wheel this man away. You can see the shame in his face as he lowers his head. These officers must know history is not going to judge them kindly, but they must also know just following orders is not okay. If I was a police officer, I would not have made those arrests, even if it cost me my job. Doing the right thing is infinitely more important than just following orders.

Yesterday police made twice the number of counter-terrorism arrests than they did in all of 2023 and one-fifth of those arrested were over 70. One police officer was wearing a hat that suggested he came from a Welsh police force. Remember this when police say they can't send any officers out after you've been burgled. Police are dealing with the real criminals now, and the real criminals include quakers. Yes, quakers were arrested.

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[–] FishFace@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

No, I'm using them as a suitable comparison because they are also a proscribed organisation.

The whole fucking point is that while PA is not a terrorist organisation, ISIS undoubtedly is. The fact that no-one has chipped in to say that (disabled) supporters of ISIS should be immune from prosecution shows that the principle of arresting people for supporting terrorist organisations is not the issue; the issue is that PA has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation when it is not one.

You can tell that I wasn't "indirectly calling PA a terrorist organisation" because I said:

The proscription of Palestine Action is ridiculous and shameful.

and

she has now used those powers to ban a group that protested a genocidal war through non-violent direct action.