https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/section-12-means-british-police-are
Social media posts can result in anyone being arrested
Nov 13, 2024

A police officer has been arrested by counter-terrorism police in Gloucester over social media posts regarding Israel and Palestine. It’s no longer just journalists and social media users that police are targeting, it’s their own officers now.

The officer is suspected of “supporting Hamas” in breach of Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Police have explained they’re going through the officer’s devices for analysis and say we should not jump to conclusions.

This is fair enough, and given the details are sparse, I’m not going to discuss the ongoing investigation, or the officer’s potential guilt or innocence. I am, however, going to discuss how police have handled similar cases in which they appear to have overstepped the mark because there are concerns to be addressed. Those concerns involve whether the law is being followed in this and similar investigations.

Police recently visited the home of journalist Asa Winstanley and took his devices for analysis, even though he was not under arrest. It seems they wanted to look through his devices to find the excuse to arrest a journalist.

If police were correctly applying the law in this instance, this would tell us that our laws are authoritarian. If they were not correctly applying the law, this would tell us they are acting in an authoritarian manner. Either way, we would be witnessing a form of authoritarianism. It is therefore reasonable to ask in each case if police are correctly applying the law. We need clarity because we have the impression our rights are under attack. This is obviously unacceptable in a so-called free society.

The position of police seems to be that opinions that counter the narrative on Israel/Palestine count as inviting support for Hamas, and therefore count as terrorism. It appears there is a concerted effort to monitor people with the wrong opinions and look for the excuse to make the arrest.

While it’s possible some suspects are guilty of terrorism-related offences, in the cases I’ve looked at, there does not seem to be a credible link. It genuinely looks like people are being targeted for expressing their opinions. Even if that take turns out to be wrong, public perception matters, and police are not addressing this perception. This leads to the suspicion they want fear to spread so people fall silent.

I have problems with the police’s apparent logic and actions for several reasons. Firstly, it has been established in a UK court that support for resistance and support for terrorism are not the same things. Also, supporting resistance does not automatically equate to support for Hamas.

For legal reasons, I must clarify I do not count myself as a Hamas supporter, nor do I invite support for Hamas or any proscribed organisation. I think Israel’s genocide should be legally resisted in order to achieve a peaceful outcome and stability in the Middle East. I do not wish harm on any human being.

Let’s say for a moment that a member of the public does support Hamas. What is my position then? Well, I would ask what exactly is the person supporting? Are they supporting attacks on civilians? Or could it be that they don’t think that Hamas attacks civilians?

While it’s wrong to believe Hamas doesn’t attack civilians, such an opinion would differentiate you from someone who supports attacks on civilians. It would make you the same as someone who supports the IDF because they don’t believe the IDF attacks civilians.

We know the IDF is committing genocide, and any support for a genocidal military is potentially a war crime. Police have a legal obligation to act against anyone who is expressing support for genocide, but IDF supporters speak freely. This would suggest a potential bias.

Apart from anything else, police seem to see support for Hamas where there is none. The recent arrest of Professor Haim Bresheeth would be a case in point. He was arrested for expressing support for a proscribed organisation, yet the footage of his speech showed him doing no such thing. Obviously, I have no problem with police investigating anyone who calls for attacks on civilians. However, if a person is not calling for violence and just offering a controversial opinion, I struggle to see how this counts as terrorism.

If you wish to arrest people for expressing opinions, surely that’s not the job of counter-terrorism police, but regular police, or rather, thought police! At worst, you would think it would result in a fine for offensive behaviour or something. Treating someone as a terrorist because you don’t like their opinion makes no sense. Aside from anything else, it’s a waste of police resources, unless, of course, the goal is intimidation.

One worrying indication of what might be going on comes from Drop Site News. They reported that the Heritage Foundation (a US thinktank) has put forward proposals to break up the pro-Palestinian movement in 12-24 months.

The plan called Project Esther is to pretend there is a global Hamas network funding and advising critics of Israel who are doing “terrorist propaganda”. By lying this way, authorities can subvert the first amendment and use counter-terrorism laws to demand censorship and prosecutions. One thing they’re trying to stop is any call for the US to withdraw funding for Israel.

If you want the US to stop arming a genocidal regime, they want to treat you as a terrorist. The plan is so ludicrously evil that if they push ahead, it will likely galvanise millions to fight harder. I suspect they might instead try a watered down version where they prosecute one or two easy targets, shadow-ban a bunch of influencers, shut down the biggest protests, and stop the movement from growing.

I suspect this is similar to the strategy currently being employed in the UK. Asa Winstanley was informed his arrest was part of Operation Incessantness, but police provided no details about what this operation involves. It doesn’t take a genius to join the dots.

Not too long ago, police tweeted they are monitoring social media and will arrest the public for posts our rulers disapprove of. It seems they are incessantly monitoring social media accounts, looking for any excuse to make arrests. If you’re unclear why Elon Musk made your posts visible to people you’ve blocked, it makes it easier for Big Brother to monitor you.