In arresting an Israeli Jewish professor, Haim Bresheeth, for supposedly supporting a "proscribed organisation" (Hamas), the Met have exposed their hand. There is a video of the speech given by Prof Bresheeth at an anti-genocide rally last week. We can all hear for ourselves that nothing he said contravened the draconian Terrorism Act. Instead, he noted – quite correctly – that Israel cannot defeat Hamas or any of the other resistance movements opposed to its genocide in Gaza. As so many others have observed, and history serves as our guide here, you cannot defeat an organisation created to struggle against your violence by engaging in more violence. Israel's genocide is the best recruiting sergeant Hamas could wish for. Israel's strategy – assuming that it is actually trying to defeat Hamas – is entirely self-sabotaging. Pointing this out is not support for a proscribed organisation. It is simple historical analysis – something we all ought to be free to do. But arresting academics for doing it has a very dark pedigree indeed. That is where we have arrived in Sir Keir Starmer's Britain. Israel has smashed into oblivion the constraints of international law through the endless repetition of war crimes. Targeting children, babies, shelters, hospitals, universities, bakeries has been entirely normalised. Now Israel's patrons such as the UK are tearing apart the rules of civil society – to normalise the arrest and persecution of anti-genocide protesters, journalists and academics. Britain is a full partner with Israel, not only by arming and supporting a genocide of the Palestinian people, but by criminalising the right to protest against it, to speak out, to think for ourselves. The Palestinians are in a fight for their very existence. We are in a parallel fight to stop the last vestiges of our freedoms being taken from us. Watch Prof Bresheeth's speech here:

We are releasing mini-talks by ESEA academics every month to spotlight specific issues faced by ESEA communities in Britain. This July, Dr @EvaCYLi is talking about - Hongkongers in the UK 🔗