Israel’s attack on Gaza

On December 27, 2008, Israel initiated a military attack on Palestinians in Gaza, killing over 1,400 people, including over 400 children, in three weeks of relentless bombardment. During the attack Israel continued its illegal blockade of Gaza, denying Palestinians access to essential food and medicine.

Subsequent investigations, by human rights organisations and the United Nations, have shown that the Israeli army – one of the most technologically advanced in the world – deliberately and systematically targeted civilians and used Palestinians, including young children, as human shields.

These actions constitute war crimes under the Geneva Conventions.

Israel’s attack on Gaza was supported by the US, which has continued to provide Israel with unparalleled amounts of military aid. The attack was also supported by Britain. During 2008, Britain exported arms worth at least £27.5m to Israel; in the last ten years over £136m worth of arms have been exported,including components for aircraft and military vehicles which were used in the attack on Gaza. This means Britain is complicit in war crimes committed against the Palestinian people.

The London demonstrations

Hundreds of thousands of people across the world demonstrated against Israel’s war crimes. Motivated by images of violent death and destruction, and a desire to express solidarity with the people of Gaza, British adults and children spontaneously gathered at the Israeli Embassy in London on December 2008 and January 2009 to demand justice and protest their own complicity in the massacre.

The police did not facilitate justice. Instead, they took names, addresses and photographs of as many demonstrators as possible, including children. Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) were deployed on these demonstrations, and people were physically blocked in by lines of police (kettled) and then refused the right to leave unless they gave their details and had their photograph taken for police files. These tactics are illegal under British law.

The police used the Territorial Support Group, equipped with balaclavas, helmets, riot shields and heavy batons, as well as dogs and horses to intimidate and control the demonstrators.

The police also used force against the demonstrators, including children and the elderly, who were pushed, hit, and refused freedom of movement. In many cases, the police physically assaulted demonstrators.

Arrests

After the demonstrations, the police arrested 119 people. The vast majority of these people were not arrested at the demonstrations, but often months later, using intelligence gathered at the demonstrations. Many of these arrests were made in shocking dawn raids, which included the handcuffing of entire families, and the seizing of phones and computers.

In comparison with other demonstrations, the Gaza protests were not especially violent, but subsequent criminal proceedings from the police been extraordinarily harsh. There were more arrests after the Gaza protests than at any political demonstration since the Poll Tax riots. Those arrested were overwhelmingly young and of demonstrably exemplary character.

Both the number of arrests and the length of sentences were clearly disproportionate. They have been seen as an attack on the Muslim community in particular, which has been subject to openly discriminatory laws for the past decade.

Though the demonstrations were composed of a hugely diverse range of people, the vast majority of those targeted for arrest were young people from Muslim communities. Of the 79 charged, 77 are Muslim, mostly under 25 years old. The youngest was 12 years old.

Every person charged was ordered to surrender his or her passport. Despite the fact that almost all were British citizens, they were served with immigration notices which stated that they could be deported depending on the outcome of criminal proceedings.

Sentencing

Many of the young people arrested were pressured both by the presiding judge and their own solicitors to plead guilty to the offences with which they were charged, with the expectation of receiving minor sentences. They have since been sentenced to long prison terms, almost all for harmless acts, such as throwing sticks or empty bottles at the Israeli Embassy or armoured police lines. Many were given sentences of 18 months to 2 years.

The unusually harsh sentencing following the demonstration has been widely condemned by solicitors, human rights advocates, MPs, and concerned members of the public. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour MP for Islington North, said: “What possible justification can there be for handing down a year in prison for a 19-year-old lad, studying dentistry, who threw a plastic bottle in the direction of the Israeli Embassy?”

The sentencing did not take into account police provocation and violence, disregarding over 33 complaints to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) because the IPCC refused to investigate them.

Thousands of people protested Israeli war crimes in Gaza and Britain’s own complicity in them, asking the government to hold responsible those responsible for the mass killing of civilians. Instead of justice, the demonstrators were met with targeted brutality. The result has been the further curtailment, yet again, of the right to protest in the UK, and the further marginalisation of both young people and Muslim communities. Thousands of British people feel that they no longer have the option of attending a political demonstration without being targeted by the police.