Haim Bresheeth is a 79-year-old Jewish peace activist. His parents survived the Holocaust. He grew up in Israel, and fighting in two wars for the country turned him into a pacifist. Because he now opposes Israel’s genocide in Gaza and decades-long oppression of Palestinian people, police arrested him last week under the Terrorism Act.
You can see the speech here at SKWAWKBOX, which the outlet says included factual critiques of Israel’s “colonialism, racism and violence, including the mass murder of civilians”.
Everyone who stands for peace must stand in solidarity with Bresheeth and other courageous activists – Jewish and non-Jewish – who are facing intimidation for opposing the genocide.
Demonstrations take place weekly at Swiss Cottage (near the Israeli ambassador’s home in London), usually at 5.30pm, so you can attend or spread the word about these events. This event has been growing in size, and the police would hate it if it grew even more.
Haim Bresheeth: the British state is “trying to intimidate, to criminalise, and to silence Jews” who oppose genocide
Haim Bresheeth is an “advanced cancer patient with a serious heart condition”, and he had attended the weekly protest against Israel’s far-right ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, who has previously egged on the genocide in Gaza. Speaking to Al Jazeera, the university professor said:
They’re trying to intimidate, to criminalise, and to silence Jews with a public profile who are supporting the end of genocide.
He also argued that:
There are probably now more Jews supporting Palestine and against the genocide than the other way… And we’re not allowed to speak, because we are criminalised when we speak.
Sharing footage of his recent arrest, the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi insisted:
Western states cannot sustain support for Israel’s carnage in Gaza unless they compromise democracy and the rights of their citizens.
Thie moment @metpolice arrested Prof Bresheeth, after he spoke at a protest by Jewish groups IJAN-UK & Jewish Network for Palestine on 1 Nov. He was released later that night without charge, but his case was referred to the CPS. Arresting the innocent and protecting the murderers pic.twitter.com/XjWtO2mPfK
— IJAN (@IJAN_Network) November 3, 2024
Haim Bresheeth previously told the Canary that:
The Israel lobby is the strongest lobby in this country, and at the moment there’s a very systematic approach that’s trying to demonise those supporting opposition to what’s happening in Palestine.
He has consistently made clear his support for peace and opposition to Zionism – the colonial nationalist movement behind the disastrous establishment of Israel in 1948.
We must oppose the systematic police persecution of the anti-genocide movement
SKWAWKBOX has been doing excellent coverage of the police intimidation of activists. As it reported on 5 November, another activist at the same event as Haim Bresheeth also suffered violent police repression. He explained:
On Friday 1 November, at IJAN’s weekly picket in Swiss Cottage, I was arrested and charged with an alleged assault. The allegation came from a Zionist instigator that police watched on as he barged about amongst us, using foul language at people, filming and intimidating them.
The @metpoliceuk violently arrested me after allowing a Zionist instigator to cross our picket line so that he could cause a disturbance and make false allegations.
I was happy to speak to the police and give details, but they opted to throw me to the ground instead… pic.twitter.com/uXopUjK1Ki
— Jerboa (@Jerboa_x) November 4, 2024
Yael Kahn, who is “a Jewish Israeli woman who has been campaigning for Palestine for 51 years”, was also there and complained about the police physically attacking her.
She had previously gone viral online over another example of police intimidation:
Age or religion seem to be no barrier for the British police when repressing dissent over the state’s participation in genocide. Below are a couple of other examples:
The Crispin Flintoff Show has also been doing great work to highlight the repression of anti-genocide campaigners. Flintoff is planning to go to Swiss Cottage on Friday 8 November to interview people there and listen to the speeches. His show will be out on Sunday morning:
Join us outside Swiss Cottage station at 5:30pm this Friday.
👉Professor Bresheeth’s arrest was unacceptable and we cannot allow those behind it to think we will go away. pic.twitter.com/y1kdctTfcE— The Crispin Flintoff Show (@CrispinShow) November 6, 2024
Featured image via screengrab
