A recent advisory letter from United Kingdom Parliament member Suella Braverman notes that depending on the circumstances, waving the Palestinian flag could be construed as a criminal offense toward the Jewish community in Britain.
“At a time when Hamas terrorists are massacring civilians and taking the most vulnerable (including the elderly, women, and children) hostage, we can all recognise the harrowing effect that displays of their logos and flags can have on communities,” reads a portion of Braverman’s letter to the chief constables, beneath a bullet-pointed list of prohibited actions pertaining to any involvement with the militant group that is recognized as a terrorist organization in the UK.
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The statement comes amid Israel’s ongoing retaliatory attacks on Palestinians following Hamas’s surprise attack this past weekend. Approximately 1,200 Israeli individuals were killed in the Hamas attacks and over 1,100 Palestinian people have been killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza.
Braverman specifies in her letter that the police should be vigilant about “not just explicit pro-Hamas symbols” but also chants such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and whether the use of these in certain contexts “may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence.”
“I would encourage police to give similar consideration to the presence of symbols such as swastikas at anti-Israel demonstrations,” she wrote. “Context is crucial. Behaviours that are legitimate in some circumstances, for example the waving of a Palestinian flag, may not be legitimate such as when intended to glorify acts of terrorism.”
Braverman’s letter follows UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s notice for pro-Palestinian supporters in London to stay home instead of protesting, stating that “there is no need, there’s no necessity for people to come out,” and that “it causes distress” to the Jewish community, “who have often been on the receiving end of prejudice and threats of violence.”
The Parliament’s conflation of Palestinian symbols with those of Hamas or broader antisemitism is especially troubling, said Ben Jamal, director of the UK-based Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, given the police’s authority to determine the significance of the symbols. Braverman’s instruction to the constables to assess whether the circumstances of waving the Palestinian flag are legitimate or supportive of terrorism “is deeply concerning, threatening to civil liberties and likely to further normalise a dehumanising of Palestinians that is currently widespread in political discourse,” he said.
“A police force enacting this instruction denies the right of Palestinians to fly a flag which is the symbol both of their nationhood and struggle for liberation from Israel’s system of oppression,” Jamal told Hyperallergic. “It is also an assault on the basic right of British citizens to show solidarity for the Palestinian people’s legitimate desire to have their rights realised, including the fundamental right of self-determination.”
Source: Hyperallergic.com