Middle East Eye – UK police arrest Israeli academic Haim Bresheeth after pro-Palestine speech

Retired Jewish professor arrested for alleged support of a ‘proscribed organisation’ after he said ‘Israel cannot win against Hamas’

Middle East Eye (MEE) is a UK-based news website founded in 2014, that covers the Middle East and North Africa

Cross-posted from Middle East Eye

                                                           Photo: from Haim Bresheeth’s website

A Jewish academic who grew up in Israel was arrested by London’s Metropolitan police following a speech he gave at a pro-Palestine demonstration in the British capital, during which he said that Israel “cannot win against Hamas”.

Haim Bresheeth, a child of Holocaust survivors and the founder of the Jewish Network for Palestine, was arrested during a demonstration outside the residence of Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely in north London.

He faces charges of supporting a proscribed organisation, according to a statement given to media outlet Skwawkbox by a police spokesperson.

In a video recording of Bresheeth’s arrest, a police officer informs him that he is being arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 for “making a hate speech”.

“Israel has not achieved any of its declared aims, either in Gaza in Lebanon in, in Iran or anywhere else,” Bresheeth said in his speech.

“What has it achieved? Murder, mayhem, genocide, racism, destruction, this is what they’re good at,” Bresheeth said. “But they cannot fight the resistance, they have lost every single time.

“They cannot win against Hamas, they cannot win against Hezbollah, they cannot win against the Houthis. They cannot win against the united resistance to the genocide they have started.”

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The police spokesperson said that the force is engaged in a “constant balancing act” and that it was acting to “prevent intimidation and serious disruption to communities.”

Bresheeth was released without charge on 2 November, after spending a night in custody, but remains under investigation.

The Jewish academic’s arrest follows a series of raids and arrests targeting pro-Palestinian activists and journalists under anti-terror legislation.

In October, counter-terrorism police raided the home of journalist Asa Winstanley as part of an investigation under the Terrorism Act into his social media activity.

On 15 August, journalist Richard Medhurst was detained under section 12 of the Terrorism Act on arrival in the UK, allegedly in connection with his reporting on Palestine.

Less than two weeks later, pro-Palestine journalist Sarah Wilkinson was arrested by masked counter-terrorism police in a dawn raid on her home for allegations relating to content she had posted online.

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