Starting with violent attacks on demonstrations against the EDO bombs factory, Brighton Police - under their Divisional Commander Kevin Moore - swamped the last demonstration against the bombing of Lebanon, harrassing demonstrators, especially Arabs and Muslims and videoing everyone present. Moore later declared the march anti-Semitic.
File of Phone Conversation between Kevin Moore & Tony Greenstein 30.8.06
- mp3 5.0M
Transcript of conversation between Ch. Supt. Kevin Moore & Tony Greenstein
- application/msword 44K
Moore Must Go Campaign
Dear Friend,
On August 19th 2006 there was a demonstration against the bombing of Lebanon in Palmeira Square in Hove. The policing of this demonstration was extremely heavy with nearly as many police as demonstrators, including a contingent from Surrey. Police went around asking anyone Arabic or Muslim looking for their details, had about 4 video teams present (& even hired out a tourist bus!) and were extremely hostile to those present, including assaulting and being aggressive towards a number of people. They even confiscated a poster from an 8 year-old girl adorned with a picture of a swastika and star of David.
The pretexts for the Police behaviour were that a ‘serious racial assault’ occurred on a Jewish person at the previous demonstration on July 30th, that they had had no warning of the demonstration and that the choice of Palmeira Square was a deliberate attempt to incite hatred against the local Jewish community. All of these were deliberate lies and the so-called racist assault was nothing of the kind, merely an irate ‘half-Jewish doorman’ (Argus) motorist shouting ‘terrorist’ at the nearest Arab demonstrator and getting into a verbal altercation. Unsurprisingly witnesses to what happened haven’t been asked to give statements. Strange given that this was a ‘serious racial assault.’
In a taped conversation with one of the organisers of the above demonstrations, Tony Greenstein, Moore admitted that he had had warning of the first demo but that on the basis of one objection from a local resident, he had had no choice but to classify the second demonstration, a peace demonstration, as a racist event. He claimed he ‘had no choice’ under Police rules, as it is the perception of the ‘victim’ which defines whether something is racist. There is of course no law to this effect, as in law harassment (Race Relations/Sex Discrimination/Disability Discrimination Acts) is based upon BOTH the perception of the victim AND whether it is reasonable to perceive it as such. Moore there were too many police present and that he wasn’t aware that four years ago Palmeira Square was the choice of the Police for the demonstration! In fact Palmeira Square is in the middle of Hove’s growing Arab community and there is no specific Jewish area in Hove.
Moore’s behaviour is part of a general move to criminalise opposition to New Labour’s foreign policy as racist. It is in line with a recent Parliamentary Report which concluded that opposition to Zionism or support for the Palestinians is anti-Semitic . Of course Zionists have been arguing for years that opposition to the actions of the Israeli State or Zionism, the movement that gave birth to it, are inherently anti-Semitic. In the words of former President of the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jacob Gerwitz, ‘Although theoretical differences can be drawn between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, these are distinctions without a difference.’ Indeed ‘The fascists, odious as they are, have at least the virtue of candour.’ [Anti-Semitism, Zionism The Link, Centre for Contemporary Studies, Left and Right early 1980’s] Using the language of ‘diversity’ and multi-culturalism, the Right has increasingly taken on board the idea that the oppressed (if they are oppressors!) can define their own ‘oppression’ which the State can then use against those deemed a threat. So ‘anti-Semitism’ is to be taken seriously, unlike of course anti-Arab racism.
Nationally the Serious Organised Crime Bill has made demonstrations in Central London all but illegal and allowed the police to criminalise peaceful protests. Slipped through Parliament, one has to give five days notice of a demonstration, which the Police can refuse or insist on conditions before allowing it to take place. Even reading out the names of British soldiers killed in Iraq at the Cenotaph has led to arrest and conviction!
Demonstrator have been detained on the pretext of ‘new crimes’, such as protesting too close to Tony Blair: during the last Labour Party Conference, Moore’s force detained over 4,000 people, including Walter Wolfgang and John Catt (an 80 year old man who had an anti-Blair T-shirt on!). The concept of ‘disrupting the life of the community’ has been translated by the police into that of ‘disrupting shopping’; so that demos are criminalised if they are too visible to shoppers. During a Smash EDO march protesters were physically assaulted by Moore’s men for leafleting passers by or going on the pavement. Liasing with the police has become increasingly difficult as Organisers are threatened if they don’t cooperate in all that the Police demand.
Moore’s Police encouraged the failed civil injunction by the bomb factory EDO against Smash EDO campaigners and his forces withdrew charges against protesters rather than disclose evidence of their communications with the EDO’s management concerning the obtaining of the injunction. It is believed that Police deliberately arrested people in order to provide evidence for the need for an injunction. Now Kevin Moore is overtly taking sides with individuals and pressure groups who try to criminalise the anti-war movement and brand it as ‘anti-Semitic’.
With his outrageous letter to the Argus and in his phone call to Tony Greenstein, Moore has exposed his own far Right politics. We are proposing to launch a campaign to counter Sussex Police’s political policing. Fortunately Moore, when sent a letter threatening defamation proceedings, rang Tony up oblivious to the fact that his force might not be the only ones to monitor peoples’ conversations!! This issue should be addressed by all campaign groups. We are facing a new level of repression directed at all grass roots and radical campaign groups. We therefore have to respond together.
Tony Greenstein
Enc. Tape Transcript and File
Dear Friend,
On August 19th 2006 there was a demonstration against the bombing of Lebanon in Palmeira Square in Hove. The policing of this demonstration was extremely heavy with nearly as many police as demonstrators, including a contingent from Surrey. Police went around asking anyone Arabic or Muslim looking for their details, had about 4 video teams present (& even hired out a tourist bus!) and were extremely hostile to those present, including assaulting and being aggressive towards a number of people. They even confiscated a poster from an 8 year-old girl adorned with a picture of a swastika and star of David.
The pretexts for the Police behaviour were that a ‘serious racial assault’ occurred on a Jewish person at the previous demonstration on July 30th, that they had had no warning of the demonstration and that the choice of Palmeira Square was a deliberate attempt to incite hatred against the local Jewish community. All of these were deliberate lies and the so-called racist assault was nothing of the kind, merely an irate ‘half-Jewish doorman’ (Argus) motorist shouting ‘terrorist’ at the nearest Arab demonstrator and getting into a verbal altercation. Unsurprisingly witnesses to what happened haven’t been asked to give statements. Strange given that this was a ‘serious racial assault.’
In a taped conversation with one of the organisers of the above demonstrations, Tony Greenstein, Moore admitted that he had had warning of the first demo but that on the basis of one objection from a local resident, he had had no choice but to classify the second demonstration, a peace demonstration, as a racist event. He claimed he ‘had no choice’ under Police rules, as it is the perception of the ‘victim’ which defines whether something is racist. There is of course no law to this effect, as in law harassment (Race Relations/Sex Discrimination/Disability Discrimination Acts) is based upon BOTH the perception of the victim AND whether it is reasonable to perceive it as such. Moore there were too many police present and that he wasn’t aware that four years ago Palmeira Square was the choice of the Police for the demonstration! In fact Palmeira Square is in the middle of Hove’s growing Arab community and there is no specific Jewish area in Hove.
Moore’s behaviour is part of a general move to criminalise opposition to New Labour’s foreign policy as racist. It is in line with a recent Parliamentary Report which concluded that opposition to Zionism or support for the Palestinians is anti-Semitic . Of course Zionists have been arguing for years that opposition to the actions of the Israeli State or Zionism, the movement that gave birth to it, are inherently anti-Semitic. In the words of former President of the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jacob Gerwitz, ‘Although theoretical differences can be drawn between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, these are distinctions without a difference.’ Indeed ‘The fascists, odious as they are, have at least the virtue of candour.’ [Anti-Semitism, Zionism The Link, Centre for Contemporary Studies, Left and Right early 1980’s] Using the language of ‘diversity’ and multi-culturalism, the Right has increasingly taken on board the idea that the oppressed (if they are oppressors!) can define their own ‘oppression’ which the State can then use against those deemed a threat. So ‘anti-Semitism’ is to be taken seriously, unlike of course anti-Arab racism.
Nationally the Serious Organised Crime Bill has made demonstrations in Central London all but illegal and allowed the police to criminalise peaceful protests. Slipped through Parliament, one has to give five days notice of a demonstration, which the Police can refuse or insist on conditions before allowing it to take place. Even reading out the names of British soldiers killed in Iraq at the Cenotaph has led to arrest and conviction!
Demonstrator have been detained on the pretext of ‘new crimes’, such as protesting too close to Tony Blair: during the last Labour Party Conference, Moore’s force detained over 4,000 people, including Walter Wolfgang and John Catt (an 80 year old man who had an anti-Blair T-shirt on!). The concept of ‘disrupting the life of the community’ has been translated by the police into that of ‘disrupting shopping’; so that demos are criminalised if they are too visible to shoppers. During a Smash EDO march protesters were physically assaulted by Moore’s men for leafleting passers by or going on the pavement. Liasing with the police has become increasingly difficult as Organisers are threatened if they don’t cooperate in all that the Police demand.
Moore’s Police encouraged the failed civil injunction by the bomb factory EDO against Smash EDO campaigners and his forces withdrew charges against protesters rather than disclose evidence of their communications with the EDO’s management concerning the obtaining of the injunction. It is believed that Police deliberately arrested people in order to provide evidence for the need for an injunction. Now Kevin Moore is overtly taking sides with individuals and pressure groups who try to criminalise the anti-war movement and brand it as ‘anti-Semitic’.
With his outrageous letter to the Argus and in his phone call to Tony Greenstein, Moore has exposed his own far Right politics. We are proposing to launch a campaign to counter Sussex Police’s political policing. Fortunately Moore, when sent a letter threatening defamation proceedings, rang Tony up oblivious to the fact that his force might not be the only ones to monitor peoples’ conversations!! This issue should be addressed by all campaign groups. We are facing a new level of repression directed at all grass roots and radical campaign groups. We therefore have to respond together.
Tony Greenstein
Enc. Tape Transcript and File
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