The draconian crackdown on the anti-genocide organization Palestine Action in the UK marks another disgraceful chapter in the seeming end of Western society's hegemonic dominance.
By Musa Iqbal / PRESS TV
The draconian crackdown on the anti-genocide organization Palestine Action in the UK marks another disgraceful chapter in the seeming end of Western society's hegemonic dominance.
Not only is the proscribing of Palestine Action a severe blow to civil disobedience against the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, but it further prepares the ground for all-out criminalization of Palestinian solidarity, while revealing that "terrorism" is a term rooted not in action, but in political alignment.
As of July 5, Palestine Action, a group that has materially slowed down the genocidal actions of the Israeli regime, is completely outlawed in the UK. Allegiance to this group, and any solidarity or words of support for Palestine Action, will be met with heavy-handed punishments, including prison.
In the backdrop of the proscription is an ever-growing popular sentiment with the Palestinian cause, now echoed by other European artists such as Kneecap and Bob Vylan, who are also being criminally investigated by British authorities for opposing the Gaza genocide.
Already, UK authorities have arrested protestors for their principled stand with Palestine Action - including an elderly priest simply holding a sign, which read: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."
For nearly five years, Palestine Action has been, without a shadow of a doubt, the most effective and successful pro-Palestine, anti-genocide organization in the Western world.
Their strategy is to cut off the very lifeline of the Israeli occupation by targeting weapons manufacturers for the occupation, namely Elbit Systems, the occupation's largest arms company.
Using sabotage tactics - including spraying their weapons manufacturing facilities with their famous red paint, a symbolic color to demonstrate the manufacturers' complicity in occupation - they have been able to, time and time again, bring weapons production to a grinding halt.
Elbit Systems even concedes how effective these tactics are. In a 2024 report, Elbit Systems states "...supply chain disruption due in part to limitations on export to Israel as well as more limited transportation by air and sea to the region...[s]uch restrictions have caused a material increase in recent years in the Company's costs of procurement and shipping, leading in some cases to delays and limitations in our production and development."
While these actions have been disruptive and have shed light on companies like Elbit Systems in their direct involvement in occupation and genocide, they have never resulted in the loss of life.
No one was killed, not even by accident. However, Palestine Action members, when arrested, have faced prison, with dubious sentences and charges. Meanwhile, the weapons manufacturers they disrupt have their products used for war crimes against Palestinians.
The only damage Palestine Action has done is to weapons of war meant to drop on Palestinian children, and to the reputation of genocide-linked companies and the occupation.
The crime of opposing genocide in the Western world is terrorism. Astonishingly, terrorism itself is met with open arms, as long as it fits within the core interests of imperialism -- namely, supporting the Israeli occupation and apartheid.
The same day that Palestine Action's terrorist proscription went into effect, the UK released a press statement signaling its normalization with the new Syrian regime, led by former Al Qaeda member and current Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani.
Even if one looks past the blood-stained history of HTS, formerly known as the Al Nusra Front, its ongoing sectarian massacres of minorities within Syria clearly demonstrate that this is no state army -- it is still gleefully carrying out terrorism, now unrestrained by fake Western designations and condemnations.
In fact, the HTS regime in Syria is being rewarded. Since the new Syrian regime is intent on normalizing with the Zionist occupation -- conceding the Golan Heights and other Syrian territories, as well as jailing and expelling Palestinian resistance from its land -- the sanctions, as well as military pressure on Syria that it once endured for decades, are being removed.
Thus, the definition of "terrorism" for the Western world is not a definition that is rooted in actions -- it is a definition rooted in political alignment.
If one opposes Western interests by disabling military hardware without harming a soul, one can surely be considered a terrorist. However, if one massacres thousands of innocents, plunging a country into sectarian violence, but ultimately clearing the path to Western dominance and political alignment, one would not be a terrorist. They would be a hero.
The UK model for charging groups with terrorism will surely be implemented elsewhere as the popularity of the Palestinian cause rises, as it continues to reach record levels, while sympathy with the Zionist occupation continues to plummet, even in the heart of the empire.
The collective West's projection of itself as a defender of a so-called liberal-democratic order ultimately shows what liberalism becomes when it is forced to reckon with its dependence on colonization and imperialism.
On paper, Western governments tout that liberalism means freedom of expression and speech, championing values of peace and shared harmony. But in practice, the opposite is true - speech and expression are limited and punished, while savage terrorism is rewarded, as long as it fits with the expansion of the economic base of the imperialist project.
A public push-back must be launched against the proscription of Palestine Action. Anyone who stands against genocide must condemn the proscription of Palestine Action and similar groups.
Shying away from this moment will give Western authorities more ground to encroach on the fundamental right to resist genocide and occupation.
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Musa Iqbal is a U.S.-based researcher and an editor at Vox Ummah.
[ SOURCE: PRESS TV ]
