Keir Starmer's Thought Police have been raiding the homes of journalists and activists in the past few days, most recently arresting longtime organizer, journalist, and social media influencer Sarah Wilkinson, who I have known, admired, and collaborated with for many years.
Sarah and others are being charged with violating Section 12 of the Terrorism Act of 2000. This is a very easy law to break, and until now, is one that has generally gone unenforced. If you are perceived to have said or posted something in praise of a group that is resisting an illegal occupation or a genocidal slaughter, and if the group you have said something positive about is on the UK's proscribed list, such as Hamas or Hezbollah, then you have broken this terrorism law and you are subject to a potential prison sentence of 14 years.
In addition to an early-morning raid on her home with 12 uniformed and plainclothes officers and having this potential sentence hanging over her head, they have taken all of Sarah's electronics, and forbidden her from posting anything online.
What they are obviously doing here is applying this law in an extremely selective and very political way, and it's a law that shouldn't be on the books in the first place, in any remotely democratic society. They have chosen people like Sarah to target, because, unlike the millions of other people they could be targeting for posting exactly the same sorts of things that she has posted, she has a direct following of hundreds of thousands of people on X, and many more people within her activist networks who benefit greatly from her involvement with campaigns such as the Gaza Flotilla.
If the MI5 thinks I have enough of a following for them to arrest me next time I land at Heathrow, someone will probably let you know.
Section 12 (Do You Support the Resistance?)
A century ago, they came to take
Away Palestine and in its wake
The people became refugees
In the West Bank, in Gaza, across the seas
In 2006 Hamas was elected
But in case they thought this might be respected
It was not -- as the western leaders said
Democracy is good, as long as it's led
By people who know how to submit
Without fighting back a bit
By cooperative colonials who stay within their beat
And not go protest at the fence that they have no food to eat
By submissive subjects who will quietly lay by
Watch their people parched as the water taps run dry
Not by rebels who still dream of their land
Not by anyone who might think of making a stand
Do you support the resistance? If you dare say “yes I do”
Then under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act you are a terrorist, too
You don’t need to send money, it’s easier than that
You can violate the law in the window of a chat
If you think occupied people have certain rights
You might find yourself within the sights
Of the MI5 and of the British Crown
Facing fourteen years once the trial goes down
A ban on any posting – no communication
Silencing people across the nation
If you support Ukrainian resistance, sleep well
You won’t get caught up in this, pray tell
These charges are all about the man of the hour
First he purged Labor, now he’s consolidating power
Silencing the voices who’d dare condemn
His role in the slaughter of children
As millions of people are under attack
Arresting those who might praise the ones who fight back
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