The decision by the Metropolitan Police to interview “under caution” former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and leftwing MP John McDonnell for attending a peaceful protest in London against Israel’s mass slaughter in Gaza is a decisive turning point.
It marks a new escalation by the British state in its campaign to repress dissent – and specifically the demonstrations against what the International Court of Justice (ICJ) determined a year ago was a “plausible” genocide in Gaza.
It marks, too, a new low in the mendacity of police, and senior government figures like Home secretary, who insinuated that protesters engaged in violent, illegal behaviour or posed a threat to Jews in London.
I was at the rally on Saturday, and I saw what happened with my own eyes. From what I observed, it appeared that police wilfully engineered a situation to entrap Corbyn and McDonnell, the march’s figureheads, and then cynically present them as lawbreakers. At the same time, it arrested dozens of protesters and has subsequently charged the main organisers with public order offences. ….more
