When Kamali Melbourne of Sky News interviewed her last week, she said, “The proscription of Palestine Action is based on detailed security advice”, but the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre has not produced ANY documents in open court or anywhere that say so
/2
Moreover, when she spoke in Parliament on June 23rd, all she said was “The UK’s defence enterprise is vital to the nation’s national security and this Government will not tolerate those who put that security at risk”. One would have thought there would be at least something, anything that indicates my country is being put at risk.
But there isn't anything.
/3
The government has not been able to provide any documents indicating that Palestine Action is a credible threat to the UK as a terrorist organisation.
/4
But all of this is to one side, as there are now huge revisionist problems as to how we seem to be dealing with this organization. For example, seven people from PA damaged the Elbit factory in Bristol in November 2024. These people were not convicted of terrorism. They were convicted of burglary and criminal damage. However the physical damage seems to be substantially greater in magnitude than water-based spray paint.
/5
Irrespective of that,
532 people were arrested last weekend, 270 in previous weekends. You have received letters from philosopher professors, theologians, and the cry from the man in the street.
/6
It may be relevant to sum up this with some St Augustine: Law is not morality. Historically, there are two views on unjust laws: one is "lex injusta non est lex" (An unjust law is no law at all); the other is that the law is whatever the state says is the law, but one has a moral duty to oppose unjust laws. Both theories lead to a similar outcome- one should oppose unjust laws; however, one's morality permits or requires.
/7
Civil disobedience means deliberately breaking an unjust law while accepting the legal consequences of doing so and is therefore a highly moral act.
Poll tax, anyone?
Suffragettes, anyone?
Finally, my last little nugget of history …..
The Fairford Five was a group of five British protesters who broke into the RAF Fairford military air base in 2003 and disabled equipment in order to disrupt military operations at the start of the Iraq War.
(Sounds a bit Brize Common that)
/8
Totts