The arrest of prominent pro-Palestine activists and journalists under UK anti-terrorism laws has sparked an online outpouring of concern over alleged state censorship and thought-policing.
On August 29, police raided the home of a well-known pro-Palestine activist, Sarah Wilkinson, reportedly over allegations relating to her online posts discussing the October 7 attack on Israel.
A family member, Jack Wilkinson, explained on X what happened the day she was arrested.
“The police came to her house just before 7.30am. 12 of them in total, some of them in plain clothes from the counter terrorism police. They said she was under arrest for ‘content that she has posted online.’ Her house is being raided & they have seized all her electronic devices.”
Wilkinson, 61, has been highly active in the UK’s pro-Palestine activism scene for many years.
After visiting Palestine some years ago, she dedicated her life to activism and highlighting Israel’s crimes against the Palestinians.
She has reported from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an international initiative that collected and is attempting to deliver hundreds of tons humanitarian aid directly to Palestinians.
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Wilkinson’s arrest caused an outcry across social media, and the hashtag #FreeSarahWilkinsonNOW was picked up across the platform.
Journalist Jonathan Cook said on X: “We now face the terrifying, Orwellian reality that a genocide-complicit PM can repurpose Britain’s ‘counter-terrorism’ laws to jail anyone who opposes Starmer’s complicity in Israel’s genocide, charging them with ‘support’ for terror.”
Also, world-famous musician and Pink Floyd co-founder, Roger Waters, slammed her arrest, saying: “So 12 cops come around to the house and arrest you… for standing up for human rights, campaigning against genocide.”
In a video posted on X, Waters added: “If you allow this to stand, the arrest of Sarah Wilkinson, then you have accepted that Britain is now a fascist state. 1984 has arrived and it is alive and well in the United Kingdom.. Over my dead body.”
Media platform MENA Uncensored, which Wilkinson has worked for as a contributor, has since reported that Wilkinson had been released on bail and “is back to the comfort of her home.”
The UK police have not released any official statements on her arrest and detention.
Palestine Action targeted
On the same day, a co-founder of direct action group Palestine Action, Richard Barnard, was charged with three offences for comments made in two speeches.
He is accused of supporting a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act (2000), and encouraging “criminal activity.”
Barnard is to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on September 18 for a plea hearing.
The announcement was made via Palestine Action’s X account.
“BREAKING: After a targeted campaign by the Zionist lobby, Palestine Action’s co-founder Richard Barnard is facing three charges for two speeches. He is accused of supporting a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act and encouraging ‘criminal activity’.”
Palestine Action is a direct action protest group which has been behind countless “occupations” of companies which are allegedly linked to the Israeli arms trade.
Elbit Systems, a drone manufacturer, has been a regular target for the group.
Palestine Action activists film themselves climbing on company buildings and causing damage to the property and equipment it produces. The damage caused in these protests can sometimes reach millions of pounds.
On August 21, five Palestine Action activists were jailed for at least a year each for taking part in a direct action protest.
The activists had occupied a weapons factory in Glasgow belonging to French arms firm Thales.
The company has a contract with Elbit Systems, which produces 85 per cent of drones used by the Israel Defence Forces.
In June 2022, the activists occupied the roof and unfurled banners to disrupt production. Two of them also damaged weaponry inside the building.
Other prominent examples
The arrests of Wilkinson and Barnard are not the only arrests of their kind related to comments about Gaza and October 7.
On August 15, a Syrian-British journalist Richard Medhurst was arrested by UK police under the provisions of Section 12 of the Terrorism Act of 2000.
Police seized Medhurst at London’s Heathrow Airport as he exited from his airplane.
He was detained and questioned over a 24 hour period. All his electronic devices and journalistic equipment were confiscated.
Medhurst, who became renowned for his staunch support of Julian Assange as well as Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, is also a well known anti-Israel commentator on social media.
Back in July, pro-Palestine activist Majid Freeman was arrested but also charged with the encouragement of terrorism and supporting a proscribed organisation.
Mr Freeman, 36, was at the forefront of exposing Hindutva extremism and violence in Leicester a few years ago and has been a stalwart supporter of the Palestinians amid the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.
His viral video challenging former Labour MP Jon Ashworth is widely believed to have had an impact on Ashworth losing his parliamentary seat to Shockat Adam on Friday morning.
He has since been released on bail but is prohibited from social media activity. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 24.
5Pillars understands that the charge relates to social media activity concerning the Palestinian group Hamas. His trial will take place in September 2025 in Birmingham.
The UK’s Terrorism Act 2000 defines terrorism, both in and outside of the UK. Groups which fall within these definitions become proscribed on the UK’s terrorism list.
Expressing public support or being a member of any proscribed group is also a crime. Both Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group are on the UK’s terrorism list.
It is important to note that in order to be convicted of a terrorism offence a person doesn’t actually have to commit what could be considered a terrorist attack.
Planning, assisting and even collecting information on how to commit terrorist acts are all crimes under British terrorism legislation.
