Splashing paint on a plane is terrorism and killing 20,000-plus children is self-defence

Welcome to upside-down world

If you support the efforts of Palestine Action to stop the Gaza genocide, you might as well say now because pretty soon those words are gonna land you up to 14 years in prison. Just writing this article will probably get me put on a government watch list, if I'm somehow not already on one. Isn't it nice living in one of those western democracies that have all the freedom?

It seems Yvette Cooper has received her orders from Netanyahu because she is about to abuse her powers as home secretary in order to proscribe Palestine Action. This means the group would officially be considered a terrorist organisation and it would be illegal to not only to be a member, but to express support for it. Yes, thought crime is a thing in the UK.

Palestine Action upset the government when they broke into RAF Brize Norton and splashed paint on two planes that the government insists have nothing to do with the conflict, only that's not true. One of those planes has the tail number ZZ338 and we know it was used to support air strikes on Yemen in defence of Israel.

What is particularly galling here is that Sir Keir Starmer once defended someone who did what Palestine Action did (break into an RAF base to vandalise a plane). His change of position shows you how badly he has sold his soul to the Israeli lobby.

Soon, we will not be allowed to do something the prime minister once argued was perfectly legal and morally justified. That’s the reality we’re facing. There is even talk of the government proscribing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. This would mean that not only would it be illegal to support direct action to stop genocide, it would also be illegal to support Iran's right to self-defence.

If you're not British and you wonder why the British never express support for resistance groups, it's because they would go to jail. Counter-terrorism legislation would leave them with far fewer rights than a regular "criminal" and they would not be given anything like due process. Their imprisonment would be a formality. Often, suspects are denied access to a lawyer or even access to electronic devices and put on house arrest until they go to court under a media blackout.

If you were jailed for supporting Palestine Action, the media would probably not even mention your name. You would simply vanish until the government decided you could be released from Room 101. Anyone who spoke up would have to be careful because the wrong words could land them in the same position. Chilling isn't the word.

Whenever the government introduces a draconian measure for Israel, the argument goes something like "supporting Palestinians is not illegal but violence is" and then police prosecute people who are not violent.

Not only are you not allowed to take meaningful action to stop Israel's genocide, you are not even allowed to express your disapproval. If the government has not found a way to silence you, it's always looking at new ways. The government was even shutting down peaceful protests until the courts ruled that was unlawful. It is now considering changing the law to get around this. If your basic freedoms are inconvenient to Israel, your basic freedoms have to go.

It is no coincidence they are always going after those who advocate for Palestine. You will never see counter-terrorism legislation used against a supporter of Israel. If they say something supportive of genocide, that's just free speech. If they damage property, that's just petty vandalism, but when a supporter of Palestine does the same, it's terrorism.

Israel has committed the two biggest crimes under international law - genocide and a war of aggression. Both of those crimes are more serious than terrorism, yet the government is pretending opposition to those crimes is "terrorism". It is punishing people for doing the right thing.

The Genocide Convention does not just put the onus on governments to act to prevent genocide, but on individuals. Palestine Action and others are acting in accordance with international law when they try to prevent genocide. Our government, on the other hand, is seriously in breach of international law.

David Lammy is blackmailing Iran by threatening that the US will illegally bomb its nuclear sites. He is threatening further war crimes if the victim of an illegal war of aggression does not surrender. While the government is calling the likes of Palestine Action "terrorists", this is real terrorism.

Terrorism is the use of terror and violence to coerce people. No one in the UK is feeling terrorised by Palestine Action. No one is remotely afraid that what Palestine Action is doing might kill them because it is not terrorism by any objective measure.

Maybe one day I will go to jail for making these points. Alternatively, I might be conscripted to fight in a war that Israel started. Those are the prospects currently on offer in our so-called freedom loving democracy. Are you not sick of Israel's shit yet?

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