Over the weekend, police in the UK arrested more than two dozen protesters, including an 83-year-old retired priest, for opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza and supporting the direct action movement Palestine Action — which was proscribed by the UK government last week as a terrorist organization. The protesters have been released on bail and are now facing possible charges under the Terrorism Act 2000 and, under that draconian piece of UK legislation, could face up to 14 years in prison for voicing their support for Palestine Action.
What’s happening to the protesters is exactly what Mehdi and Owen warned about in the latest episode of Two Outspoken, where they broke down the dangerous precedent the UK is setting by banning Palestine Action and ludicrously labeling a nonviolent, pro-Palestinian group as a ‘terrorist organization’. Have a listen to their conversation above, and join the discussion in the comments below.
“In a functioning democracy, you'd expect journalists to start asking some pretty searching questions about proscribing a movement which, by standard definition, obviously isn't terrorism,” Owen says.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This edition of Two Outspoken was recorded before British MPs voted to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organization last week, and also before the release of a new Bob Vylan clip calling for the deaths of “every single IDF soldier…” The topics discussed in this episode, and the larger arguments about free speech, censorship, and the silencing of pro-Palestinian voices, still stand.
Mehdi and Owen also unpack why the Bob Vylan ‘scandal’ is a deliberate strategy to distract from what’s happening in Gaza, and discuss Zeteo’s new documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which is available now, as well as the hypocrisy around the BBC’s shameful decision to shelve it due to what they called a “perception of partiality.”
“That's the Orwellian world we live in now,” Mehdi says.
Paid subscribers to Zeteo can watch the full episode of “Two Outspoken”, where Mehdi and Owen get frank about what’s going on in the UK.
Free subscribers can watch the first 8 minutes of the conversation. Do consider becoming a paid subscriber to Zeteo and skip the paywall every time!
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