The British police don’t just serve the interests of the political establishment. They also serve genocidal war criminals from abroad, and they’re openly admitting it. But however many peaceful protesters they imprison and intimidate, they cannot stop the modern-day suffragettes, as recent days have shown.
Political policing in the service of Israeli war criminals
This weekend, a Met Police inspector made it clear that supporters of war criminal colonial power Israel would be safe from persecution while people protesting against the apartheid state’s genocide in occupied Palestine would not:
💥 @metpoliceuk cops near Big Ben yesterday.
If you support Palestine you can't protest.
"What about if we support Israel?" 🤔 pic.twitter.com/U7GCA7W5yb— Brighton PSC (@BrightonPSC) March 9, 2025
Amid the genocide in Gaza, the state has ramped up its intimidation of protesters and journalists in Britain who oppose genocide, including Jewish people and even Holocaust survivors. But the deployment of police apparatus in the service of a genocidal foreign power has seen arguably worse brutality elsewhere in the West, from the US to Germany (the two main arms suppliers to Israel from 2020 to 2024). Just this weekend, for example, we could see German police punching women marching in solidarity with Palestine:
https://twitter.com/DropSiteNews/status/1898481083424890942
You won’t see that in the British mainstream media, though. Because they have been helping to manufacture the idea that Britain’s fine, despite its government’s repression of peaceful protest and shilling for genocidal war criminals. Instead, you’ll see the press platforming establishment lobbyists no one asked to hear.
Keep crying, shills
John Woodcock – aka ‘Lord Walney’ – is a bad smell you just can’t get rid of, however much vinegar, air freshener or bleach you use. The former Labour Friends of Israel chair rallied against Jeremy Corbyn from within the Labour Party until his 2018 suspension over sexual harassment allegations, which pushed him to leave. He proudly supported war criminals and railed against the left, even backing Boris Johnson. Then, he received the reward of a peerage and an advisory ‘anti-extremist‘ role, despite having no relevant experience.
The fossil fuel, arms trade, and pro–Israel lobbyist cried that the British state wasn’t paying enough attention to suppressing the left, despite decades of secretive police units infiltrating about 1,000 primarily left-wing organisations that posed no threat to the public. He also argued Britain should treat “environmental campaigns; anti-racism; anti-government protest; anti-Israel activism and anti-fascism” as terrorist causes. In short, he’s exactly the kind of establishment voice that would have called the suffragettes terrorists.
But despite Woodcock eventually losing his job, the media keeps giving him a platform. The man who has cried more about paint on buildings than internationally recognised war crimes that have murdered over 17,000 children since 2023 whined on TV this weekend about the funding and organisation skills of Palestine Action. The latter, which has bravely continued to oppose Britain’s links to Israeli crimes despite state repression, responded by highlighting Woodcock’s lack of credibility on that topic:
Suspiciously well resourced? Coming from the unelected politician whose funded by the Israel lobby and arms industry?🤣 https://t.co/BfnFIasMpk
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) March 9, 2025
The modern-day suffragettes give us hope. And hope is a powerful driver of change.
So many people around Britain and the world know that Israel’s atrocities in Palestine are wrong. We know Western support for them must stop. But pro-Israeli propagandists like Woodcock attack us to make us passive through fear of what will happen if we resist. As Chomsky has written:
from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.
But he has also said:
Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so
And that’s why Palestine Action has so much momentum and widespread support right now. Because its principled fight for humanity brings us much-needed hope and energy, along with a belief that we are stronger than we may think. The future can be better. But we need to get involved and work hard to make that happen.
Featured image via screengrab
