From the Oct. 10 letter by Secretary Suella Braverman (see also Reuters on the French bans on "pro-Palestinian protests"):
You will be aware of, and no doubt share my disgust at, the barbaric terrorist attacks we've seen committed against Israel in recent days. Sadly, experience indicates that whenever Israel is attacked, Islamists and other racists, seek to use legitimate Israeli defensive measures as a pretext to stir up hatred against British Jews and increase fear within the Jewish community. In the past, this has included vandalism of Jewish businesses, desecration of memorials and religious sites, physical and verbal abuse of Jews on the streets, convoys driving through Jewish neighbourhoods hurling antisemitic abuse, and proliferation of antisemitism online. There is an obvious risk that this pattern will be repeated during the current conflict….
As you know, Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK in its entirety. It is therefore a criminal offence for a person in the UK to:
- belong to Hamas
- invite support for Hamas
- express support for Hamas whilst being reckless as to whether the expression will encourage support of it
- arrange a meeting in support of Hamas
- wear clothing or carry articles in public which arouse reasonable suspicion that an individual is a member or supporter of Hamas or
- publish an image of an article such as a flag or logo in the same circumstances …
Of course, it is not just explicit pro-Hamas symbols and chants that are cause for concern. I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" should be understood as an expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world, and whether its use in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence.
