The Arrest of Hundreds of Peaceful Pro-Palestine Protestors in Britain Illustrates the Farce of Democracy

News:

On Saturday, 6th September, almost 900 people were arrested in a pro-Palestine demonstration in London. They were protesting against the continuing mass slaughter and starvation of innocent civilians in Gaza, as well as the ban on the group Palestine Action which the British government proscribed as a terrorist organization in July. Those arrested included vicars, priests, teachers, doctors, other health care workers, and descendants of Holocaust survivors as well as disabled protestors. Many were elderly – in their 60, 70’s and even 80’s – and included a 62-year old blind man in a wheelchair.

Hundreds of peaceful protestors were hauled off by police officers simply for holding a sign saying – “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”. Over 700 people were arrested in previous similar demonstrations against the ongoing genocide in Gaza for supporting the organization.

Comment:

Palestine Action is a UK-based organization that has stated as its aim to “end global participation in “Israel’s’ genocidal and apartheid regime”, such as stopping the supply of weapons from Britain to the Zionist entity. This includes disrupting the operation of weapons manufacturers connected to the occupation, for example, the UK arm of Elbit Systems, which is the Zionist entity’s largest weapons manufacturer. Some of its members have taken direct action in trying to achieve its aims, including breaking into the RAF Brize Norton Airbase in June and damaging 2 Voyager planes which the organization said was a protest against the government’s weapons sales to the occupation. It was reported that the airbase had been used by ‘Israeli’ war planes involved in the bombing of Gaza. The group was proscribed as a terrorist organization soon after this incident, making membership or displaying public support for the group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prisons.

Following this ban, hundreds of protestors have been arrested under the Terrorism Act in peaceful pro-Palestine demonstrations for showing any support or link to the organization. Back in May 2024, a so-called ‘independent’ government review on political violence and disruption compared Palestine Action to “terror groups” and recommended their actions be banned. Interestingly, the review’s author, John Woodcock, was a paid adviser to lobbying groups that represent arms manufacturers, as well as being the former chair of the Labour Friends of Israel group.

The fact that the British government has no shame in arresting hundreds of peaceful protestors demonstrating against the mass slaughter and starvation of people in Gaza, while simultaneously being complicit in this genocide by allowing the manufacturing of weapons and arms sales to aid it, illustrates perfectly the moral vacuum, utter inhumanity and farce of its democratic system. Other organisations in the past have undertaken direct action for their cause, including the suffragettes, climate activists, and animal rights groups, however, the fact that terrorism laws are being used against organisations that support the liberation of Palestine, highlight that such bans are aimed specifically at silencing those who oppose the Zionist occupation and the British government’s complicity in this genocide. Kerry Moscogiuri of the human rights campaign group Amnesty international UK stated: “When the government is arresting people under terrorism laws for sitting peacefully in protest, something is going very wrong here in the UK.”

In addition to peaceful pro-Palestine protestors being arrested and detained, university lecturers, doctors and other professionals in Britain have been suspended from their jobs and students forced to leave their courses for expressing criticism of the Zionist occupation and support for the liberation of Palestine. This injustice has been echoed in other democratic countries, including America and Germany.

All of this illustrates the utter farce of ‘Freedom of speech’ within such democratic states who champion and lecturer the world about the superiority of their liberal values, but in reality, are willing to trample and discard them when their political and economic interests are threatened. This is because, under the capitalist, secular, democratic system, political and financial gain will always trump over all other issues, including protecting the sanctity of human life. It’s clear that the values and beliefs of democracies are as malleable and disposable as the moral conscience of the governments that lead them! The democratic system gives the illusion that power is given to the people, while in reality, it is fixed firmly in the hands of the ruling or wealthy elite who shape laws and policies according to their own selfish political and economic interests. Even freedom of speech is given and taken from the people based upon what is politically convenient to the government at the time. Furthermore, true accountability of those in governance is a mere dream – where those responsible for arming a genocidal occupation can avoid any political or judicial repercussions!

All this should provide a clear lesson to us as Muslims, that the democratic man-made system, no matter what form it takes can never ensure justice for a people, nor does it have the moral backbone to stop a genocide. The provision of rights is unpredictable and changeable, and there is a fine line between democracy and authoritarianism, as can be seen in America at the moment, and various other democratic states. Stopping the genocide in Gaza and removing the Zionist occupation requires the establishment of a state that truly cares about human life, and stands for humanity and against injustice and oppression in all its forms, regardless of the financial implications. It requires a state that is the guardian of the Muslims and our Deen and which use its military to fight for its cause. This state is the Khilafah (Caliphate) based upon the method of the Prophethood which rules by the Qur’an and Sunnah alone.

Therefore, if we wish to see the end of the slaughter of our Ummah in Palestine, Kashmir, Sudan, Yemen and elsewhere, we need to work with urgency for the return of this state, including urging those in the Muslim armies to give their Nussrah (material support) for its establishment without delay!

[وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَاء حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئًا]

“As for the disbelievers, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert, which the thirsty perceive as water, but when they approach it, they find it to be nothing.” [An-Nur: 39]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Asma Siddiq
Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir