Over 150 Arrested at Liverpool Palestine Action Protest
Is arresting placard-holders under terror law a grotesque assault on free speech or simply the law being applied equally to all?
Above: Police arrest a protester in Liverpool, north-west England on Sept. 27. Image credit: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-Palestine narrative
Hauling away pensioners, teachers and a 94-year-old barrister for holding a piece of cardboard is a grotesque misuse of terrorism law. Peaceful dissent against a genocide is exactly the speech a democracy must protect, and jailing people for 14 years over a placard shames the country. The ban is unsustainable, illogical and should be scrapped.
Pro-Israel narrative
A proscription is the law, and the law cannot bend because a crowd shows up with matching signs outside a party conference. Officers gave clear warnings and repeated chances to put the placards down. Those who refused made a deliberate choice and knew the consequences. Age or profession grants no exemption, and staging mass arrests as theater only drains police resources better spent on public safety.