Flying a Palestinian flag, chanting slogans and displaying banners calling for a “free Palestine” could be a criminal activity in the UK following recent events in Israel and Gaza, according to a letter sent by the British Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, in the different police forces of the country.
The message was immediately denounced as a violation of freedom of expression by lawyers, members of the Muslim community and pro-human rights organizations, who consider that it is not appropriate to politicize and litigate a situation that is already explosive in itself. Demonstrations of support for one side and the other in London have resulted in skirmishes and moments of considerable tension in recent days.
Because Hamas is an illegal organization for the British Government, the police are under instructions not to allow the visible presence of its symbols on the streets, nor to tolerate public expressions of support. But in the letter, Braverman (from the far-right Conservative Party) suggests that law enforcement officers go further and consider that carrying flags or uttering certain pro-Palestinian slogans may be “expressions of hatred of Israel or wishes that the ‘ State of Israel be wiped off the map” and therefore crimes.
“Everything depends on the context – says Braverman, aspiring to lead the Tories after the next elections -. Conduct that in other circumstances would be normal, such as waving a Palestinian flag, can right now be interpreted as an incitement to terrorism and exacerbate tensions between the Jewish and Muslim communities that are already at their peak.” But after launching a proposal that strengthens her reputation for applying uncompromising measures to the Sunak Administration, the Minister of the Interior points out that “of course the operational decisions correspond to the police”.
The British Government is particularly concerned about the flogging of members of the Jewish community, and that pro-Palestinians go to Jewish neighborhoods with flags representing this people or by sounding their car horns. Vandals have smashed the glass window of the Israeli restaurant Pita, in Golders Green (north-west London), stolen the cash register and painted “Free Palestine” on the facade, but it is not clear whether the graffiti and the theft are part of the same operation or not. This slogan has appeared on several highway bridges.
“In our city there is zero tolerance for hate, and today, as always, I am on the side of Jewish Londoners, who are living very difficult days”, proclaimed the mayor of the capital, Sadiq Khan, who is from Pakistani origin. Scotland Yard has stepped up patrols around synagogues, such as the one in Belsize Square, and has sent armed officers where there would normally only be security officers from private companies. On Saturday, a group of fifty people marched down Edgware Road in London, full of Arab shops, singing and throwing off fireworks.
