The massive demonstrations against Israel’s military assault and war crimes on Gaza in December 2008/January 2009 were met with British police brutality. During that time and over the following months 119 people were arrested, many in shocking dawn raids which included the handcuffing of entire families and the seizing of phones and computers. 79 people were charged. The majority are Muslim and young.

Judge Denniss, presiding over most of the trials, has described these young men and women during sentencing hearings as of exemplary character but insists that he must impose sentences to act as a ‘deterrent’. 31 people have been imprisoned so far and more continue to go on trial. A Palestinian man who attended the demonstrations just days after losing two members of his family in Gaza – murdered by the Israeli bombardment, was given an 18-month prison term.

1,440 people were killed by Israel during the 23-day assault on Gaza, 430 of them were children. The Palestinian people have been suffering at the hands of the racist state of Israel for 62 years. Britain is complicit in Israel’s war crimes, selling weapons to Israel that they then use against the Palestinian people struggling under occupation. The British Labour government gave Israel full backing to actively starve the people of Gaza in 2006 with the reduction of food supplies and the targeted bombing of power stations. The BBC refused to air the DEC appeal for donations to help the devastated population of Gaza after Israel’s ‘Operation Cast Lead’, an appeal to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, caused not by environmental disaster but with intent by a powerful, imperialist backed, heavily armed and heavily funded occupying state.

Since Britain joined with the US in invading Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001-2, it has used anti-terror laws to criminalise militant opposition and attack the Muslim community. Student political activity has become the target of surveillance and suspicion. The harsh sentencing meted out to those protesting against mass murder by a foreign state is intended to scare the Muslim community into submission so that British imperialism can continue its destruction of people’s lives abroad in order to increase profits. That the demonstrations directed against the Israeli Embassy were attacked by the British state at all shows clearly British collusion in Israel’s war crimes. That protesters are now facing prison sentences for standing up and speaking out against Israeli brutality shows that the British state fully backs Israel’s brutality and will try to crush those in Britain prepared to speak out against it.

Protesters in Britain should be in no doubt that solidarity with the Palestinian people requires exposing and opposing British support for the racist state of Israel. It is urgent that we build a strong movement willing to challenge the British state. We must stand together and vigorously defend the Gaza demonstrators and the Muslim community against this attack by the British state. We must defend the right to protest against British imperialism.


Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!

Free the Gaza Demonstrators!
Free Palestine!