EWJ Dec 2023 - Journal - Page 62
‘Palestinian Protests, Freedom of
Expression and Freedom Association:
When do Speeches Become a Hate
Crime or Incitement to Commit
Acts of Terrorism?’
by Dr David Lowe, Leeds Beckett University Law School
These protests took place in the lead up to
Remberance Day that led to fears that war memorials,
including the Cenotaph in Whitehall that holds the
UK’s main Remembrance parade would be attacked
by some of the pro-Palestinian protesters. On 4
November 2023 a 78 year-old poppy seller who is a
British Army veteran was punched and kicked as he
tried to pack up his stall at Waverley rail station in Edinburgh when he was caught up in a pro-Palestinian
protest at the station.
Introduction
Inspired by the growing protests over the current Israeli-Gaza conflict, this article examines the legal issues surrounding procession and protests in the UK.
Commencing with an overview of the political and social context behind the protests, the article examines
the rights to freedom of expression and right to
peaceful assembly. This is followed by an analysis of
the potential offences associated with protests ranging
from hate crime to offences committed under the
UK’s terrorism legislation.
The protests have not only polarised opinions among
protesters, but it has also polarised political opinion
regarding the UK’s humanitarian response (for example, should there be calls for a ceasefire) and how
the pro-Palestinian protests should be policed. Following an emergency COBRA meeting the former
UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman referred to
the protests as ‘hate marches’, seeing the protests as a
celebration of the largest massacre of Jewish lives since
the holocaust. This echoes the UK government’s position where in October 2023 during a visit to Israel
during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime
Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said the UK was proud to support
Israel in its long war with Hamas adding, ‘We will
stand with you in solidarity, we will stand with your
people. And we also want you to win.’ This official position of the UK siding with Israel has inflamed some
pro-Palestinian supporters. The UK’s leader of His
Majesty’s opposition, Sir Keir Stramer’s position has
resulted in polarised positions within the Labour
Party. His view in not calling for a ceasefire as the correct position as Israel has the right to defend itself, resulted in 30 Labour councillors resigning from the
Party. On 8 November 2023 Bradford MP, Imran
Hussein, resigned from Labour’s front bench due to
Stramer’s refusal to call for an outright ceasefire.
The Political and Social Context Behind the
Protests
Since 2006 when Hamas won the only Palestinian
election in Gaza there have been sporadic acts of aggression between Gaza Palestinians and Israel with
Hamas firing rockets into Israeli territory followed by
Israeli retribution with airstrikes. This conflict escalated on the 50th anniversary of the start of the Yom
Kippur war where an Egyptian-Syrian led coalition
attacked Israel, when on the 7 October 2023 a number of Hamas fighters crossed the border from Gaza
into Israel attacking Israeli Defence Force positions
close to the border with Gaza and Israeli civilians. The
attack resulted over 1,400 Israelis killed, including
children, 308 IDF soldiers, 58 police officers, with approximately 70 Arab-Israelis, many of whom are
Negev Bedouin and injuring 5,132. In addition to the
casualties, Hamas took a number of Israeli hostages
including children and elderly Israeli citizens, where,
at the time of writing, the Israeli military claim Hamas
hold 242 Israeli civilians as hostage in Gaza. Following
the Israeli response to the 7 October attack, that involved military air and IDF ground assaults on 6
November 2023, it is claimed that over 10,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed, with 4,100 of those
deaths being children. At the time of writing these
figures have to be verified.
Following the protests on Armistice Day in London,
on 13 November 2023 Sunak sacked Braverman as
Home Secretary for defying Downing Street over an
article she wrote in The Times accusing the
Metropolitan Police of bias in the policing of the
protests that stoked up a political storm as she claimed
the Metropolitan Police were failing to arrest proPalestine protesters for offences while taking a harder
This conflict sparked a series of protests globally,
including the major cities in the UK, where the largest
have been in London. Virtually all the protests have
been pro-Palestinian. Understandably this is a very
emotive issue where the current situation in
Israel/Gaza has polarised opinions so much that it has
become extremely divisive leading towards violence.
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
60
DECEMBER 2023