Palestine Action is a terrorist organization, defined as such by the Terrorism Act 2000. An organization made up exclusively of terrorists and supported exclusively by terrorist sympathizers. In this country that has come to mean the middle classes and the elderly. Not necessarily the best of us but those who can afford to fight for the cause, to put things on hold for a bit. Those with the privilege to have the courage of their convictions, to stand up and go floppy for the things they believe in. It's illegal to call these people heroes, so I won't. I also won't condemn the officers carrying out the law by carrying them all away. To say they were “just following orders” with an inferring raise of the eyebrow would seem like a cheap shot. Low-hanging fruit. I would instead call it the enforcing of an authoritarian policy by a non-authoritarian government, however fickle that may sound to be. But then again, nuance is a privilege only available to those lucky ones not living under an indefinite siege. 

Can you expect every policeman to have a conscience? Can you expect them to act on it? You can hope they do. You can wonder how much the power clouds what was once a desire to make the world a better and safer place. You can also wonder, considering the circumstances, if that desire had anything to do with their decision to join the force in the first place. Do they feel an almighty sense of justice in this? Like the purpose we all so desperately crave is found in dragging away these ageing agents of terror? These pensioners opposing genocide? At one of the demonstrations I saw a man making the rounds around the herd of officers with his phone in his hand. He was showing the police men and women videos of starving Palestinian children, videos of gruesome violence and pain. Not all the officers looked away. Not all of the officers completely ignored the man and his cries to their conscience. Some made polite conversation. They  acknowledged the tragedy of the suffering they were being shown and shared sympathies with the Palestinian’s situation. But in the case of all of them, every single one bar none, no change in position was made. They were the coppers, and in front of them, chanting at them and chastising them, sat the criminals. Approximately 90 people holding 90 hand written signs stating their opposition to genocide and their support for Palestine Action. All to be arrested. Can you expect officers of the law to not uphold the law? Clearly not. Maybe you could expect some slight shame, a little voice in the back of the head. But what good does that do anyone? Self-loathing wont stop a war, or a genocide for that matter. But to be fair, protests don't seem to be doing much either. Still, it doesn't stop them. What's that old saying? “Im not here to change them, I'm here so they don't change me”. The demonstration started at one o’clock in Travis Stock Square Gardens and there was no one left by tea time. The park, empty and peaceful, no longer burdened by the weight of duty and the terror of dissent.

Both the photos and the text are from late November 2025. Since then the high court has stated that the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organization was "disproportionate and unlawful”. This has led to the Met police no longer arresting people for showing their support for the group, but doesn't quite leave those already arrested in the clear. Home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, says she disagrees with the decision and claims she will “fight this judgment in the court of appeal”. And so it goes on. We are still not out of the woods and we are continuing to embarrass ourselves. And for what? An Elbeit Weapons defence contract they've already lost? The judicial argument labour is currently losing? It's a shallow grave dug in a hill not worth dying on.