The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has announced her intention to introduce major new restrictions on the right to protest, in particular, to give the police new powers to limit repeated protests on the basis of their supposed ‘cumulative impact.’ This cynical attempt by the government to exploit the horrific attack on a synagogue in Manchester to ramp up its efforts to crack down on protests is a serious assault on our democratic rights and must be rejected.
This announcement comes in the context of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, two years of live-streamed atrocities, one of the greatest crimes of our lifetimes. Ongoing demonstrations are needed due to the British government’s continuing complicity in the genocide, including the export of weapons and military and political support for Israel.
Already, the national marches for Palestine are subject to what even the police admit are unprecedented restrictions curtailing the routes, times and duration of marches. For more than six months, the police have only allowed the national Palestine marches on two routes through central London. Recently, including on the day that famine was officially declared in Gaza, the police have started to impose conditions to criminalise the banging of pots and pans, as well as the use of drums and use of megaphones. Despite this, there have been fewer arrests on average than is typical at other large events such as football matches and music festivals due to their peaceful and orderly character, as recognised by the police.
Recent days have seen renewed attempts to demonise the protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, most egregiously Kemi Badenoch’s baseless claim that they are ‘carnivals of hate.’ In reality, the huge, diverse, and family-friendly marches have brought together people from every background and all walks of life. Contrary to the grotesque accusation that those taking part are motivated by antisemitism, Jewish people are integral to the marches. Every single march has been attended by thousands of Jewish people, many of them marching in an organised Jewish bloc, with Jewish speakers on the platform. Unlike those who are irresponsibly trying to conflate Jewish people with Israel to falsely justify these proposed restrictions, our marches make clear that Jewish people are not to blame for Israel’s genocidal actions.
No protest movement has ever brought about change on the basis of a single demonstration. The civil rights movement, the campaign for women’s suffrage, and the movement against apartheid in South Africa all relied on the ‘cumulative impact’ of repeated protests over many years. Had these proposed police powers existed, successive marches to Whitehall and parliament demanding votes for women or the long-running picket of the embassy of apartheid South Africa would likely have been banned.
We urge everyone to join us in opposing this attack on democratic rights. We will not be silenced, but nor will we be distracted. Join us this Saturday 11 October, 12 noon at Victoria Embankment, when we march for Palestine in massive numbers, end the genocide, stop arming Israel, stop starving Gaza.
