The U.K. "Counterterrorism Police" Investigate Anti-Genocide Activist While The U.K. Establishment Celebrates Al-Qaeda

The U.K. "counterterrorism police" are continuing to crack down on anti-genocide activists, while the UK establishment celebrates another proscribed organization.

In August of this year, I reported on the fact that independent journalist Richard Medhurst was detained at London’s Heathrow Airport and charged under section 12 of the UK terrorism act for his critical reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza. For context, Medhurst was accused of violating section 12 of the UK terrorism act of 2000 which makes it a criminal offense to say something supportive of a “proscribed terrorist organization”.

Because Hamas and Hezbollah are listed as proscribed organizations on the UK list of “terrorist organizations”, the U.K. authorities have been able to weaponize this law to crack down and intimidate anyone opposed to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Medhurst was only the first of many cases of this happening. Since his arrest at Heathrow Airport, UK counterterrorism police charged “Palestine Action” activist Richard Barnard for “expressing an opinion that is supportive of a proscribed organization”, took the phone passport and electronics of pro-Palestine journalist Sarah Wilkinson for “content that she has posted online” and raided the house of Electronic Intifada journalist Asa Winstanley after he wrote a long expose proving Israel issued the “Hannibal Directive” on October 7th and killed many of their own people.

The current reality is there is no more denying that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza with the backing of Western governments. The UN has recently revealed that 44 percent of people killed in Gaza by Israel are children and 26 percent are women making 70 percent of those killed clearly non-combatants. They also found that “the ages most represented among the dead were five to nine-year-olds.” Along with this, they found that “80% of victims were killed in residential buildings or similar housing”.

The Human Rights group Euro-Med Monitor found that 9 out of every 10 people killed by Israel in Gaza is a civilian.

The International Criminal Court recently brought charges against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crime against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.

Most recently, after a lengthy investigation, the reputable human rights organization Amnesty International found that “Israel has committed and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip”. The report not only found that Israel is committing genocide, but that they are committing genocide intentionally finding that “Israel has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.”

Because the fact that Israel has been mass murdering civilians in Gaza with genocidal intent is so well documented, the UK has decided to arrest and intimidate those who tell the truth about this instead of ending their backing of the genocide.

Most recently they have yet again started an investigation into someone for opposing the genocide in Gaza, this time the Israeli-American activist Miko Peled, who has bravely stood up to the far right majority in his country and stood against Israeli apartheid and genocide.

For context, he was taking part in a debate on Zionism at the Oxford Union when Jonathan Sacerdoti, a Zionist on the opposing end of the debate, accused him of violating section 12 of the UK terrorism act for allegedly saying “What we saw on Oct 7 was not terrorism … these were acts of heroism of a people who have been oppressed”

Peled has denied this allegation and said he did not “ express support for any organization” and was instead saying that “Palestinians in Gaza are heroes” not Hamas.

Nevertheless, Peled is now being investigated by British counterterrorism police for allegedly expressing support for Hamas. The Telegraph reported that “Counter-terror police are investigating reports that an Oxford Union speaker broke the law by “expressing support” for Hamas during a debate on Israel.”

Even if Peled did actually say what his Zionist opponents are accusing him of (I highly doubt it) by this standard, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the entirety of the UK establishment press should be investigated for violating the UK terrorism act.

Along with Hamas, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham or HTS, the Islamist rebel group that just overthrew the Assad regime in Syria is also listed as an official “Proscribed Organization”.

The official list of “proscribed terrorist organizations” describes HTS or Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham as “ an alternative name for the organization which is already proscribed under the name Al Qa’ida.”

Pictured Above: Screenshot from the UK list of “proscribed Terrorist” organizations listing HTS as a “proscribed group”

When HTS overthrew the Assad regime in Syria, the UK prime minister Keir Starmer celebrated it saying “The Syrian people have suffered under Assad's barbaric regime for too long and we welcome his departure.”.

The UK news outlet “The Telegraph” wrote an article that called HTS “diversity-friendly jihadists”.

By their own bogus standards, if opposing the genocide in Gaza and supporting the right to resist it constitute support for Hamas then Kier Starmer and The Telegraph’s comments certainly constitute support for HTS.

Of course, I don’t think anyone should be investigated for supporting HTS or the overthrow of Assad, but the fact that this is acceptable, while allegedly supporting Hamas is not, shows the UK establishment’s blatant double standard.

One could easily argue that HTS is not the same as al-Qaeda because they do not want a global Islamic caliphate but no matter what one thinks of the group, the same is true of Hamas. As journalist Jonothan Cook put it:

Hamas, unlike al-Qaeda and Islamic State, is not seeking to recreate a caliphate embracing all Muslims wherever they live, indifferent to national borders. It wants to create a Palestinian state in Palestine. Israel is determined to stop any Palestinian state emerging, even it means committing genocide.

The reality is Hamas’s Islamic beliefs have nothing to do with why Israel is committing the genocide in Gaza. Hamas could be secular leftists and Israel would still be behaving the same way.

This is why then Israeli Defense Minister Amos Yadlin admitted in 2007 that Israel would “be happy” if Hamas controlled the Gaza strip because “Israel would then be able to declare Gaza as a hostile entity.”

In reality, Israel loves that Hamas is an Islamic group because they can now pretend they are fighting an ISIS-like organization instead of the reality being that they will never except any group that opposes the occupation and genocide of Palestinians no matter their religious or political ideology.

As Jonothan Cook said in the above-mentioned article:

Hamas does not demand strict adherence to religious law, and it does not prioritise Islam over Palestinian national identity.

It is not, as Israel and its apologists in the West try to persuade us, part of some Islamic crusade, waging a global war against the values of a supposed Judeo-Christian “civilisation”.

Hamas does not oppress Christians (a Christian community existed quite peacefully in Gaza until Israel started bombing their churches), or force women to wear the veil.

The UK's designation of Hamas as a terrorist organisation in both its military and political-welfare wings has been justified in large part on this misrepresentation of Hamas' ideological character.

Keir Starmer and the establishment UK media would make the argument that support for HTS in the recent case in Syria is justified given the brutality of the Assad regime, but this case could also easily be made for Hamas who like them or not, are currently fighting against what is undeniably an extermination campaign against the people of Gaza.