Zahra Farooque, an imprisoned Palestine Action activist from the “Filton 18” group, describes her arrest in November 2024 when the police raided her family home.
Farooque, 24, was arrested in the third wave of Filton arrests and has been held on remand since then.
In August 2024, six pro-Palestine activists drove a modified prison van into Elbit’s research, development, and manufacturing hub in Filton, Bristol. Once inside, they dismantled weapons, reportedly costing Israel’s largest weapons firm over £1million in damage.
After the six were arrested at the scene, four more were detained by armed counter-terrorism police in different parts of the country. All were remanded in prison.
In November, there were further raids and eight more activists subsequently remanded in custody, in relation to the same Filton action, taking the total to 18.
Zahra Farooque’s story
I woke up with a start. “What’s going on?” I thought. I sat up in bed faced with four figures with their faces covered and dressed in black from head to toe. The scene had me convinced I was having a dream about Call of Duty and I kept waiting to sit back up again as I awoke from the nightmare. When that didn’t happen, it started to sink in: this was really happening; this was real life.
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The flash of white light had me in a daze and I still wasn’t fully awake. This time, my hazy mind asked aloud: “What’s going on?”. Then one of the figures in black approached me, cautioned me and told me to put my hands out in front of me. A weird sense of calm set into my heart and the verse ٱللَّهُ وَلِيُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُو – “Allah is the Guardian of the believers” [2:257 Quran] – came to mind, carrying me through the entire experience. I knew that Allah would take care of me and all I had to do was keep a clear head.
I was then handcuffed; handcuffs are heavier than they look. I didn’t have my hijab on and at the first opportunity, I told the figure in front of me: “I wear a scarf. I need my scarf.” I motioned to my scarf which was hanging on the back of a chair and he patted it down and handed it to me. I don’t know what he thought he would find; it’s literally a piece of cloth! I did my best to put it on with my hands still cuffed in front of me.
The interactions I had with this figure in black in front of me were interesting. The way in which at least 20 police officers had barged into my family home made it seem like they were expecting to find a drug ring! The man in black who stood in front of me though, was clearly a bit bewildered at ending up with all 50kg of me looking around confused. Either that, or he was playing good cop. Another policeman dressed in a shirt and fancy trousers came into the room at some point – he was a bit more confrontational, especially when I wouldn’t answer his questions, but even he seemed to be overcompensating.
At some point, when I was still being kept waiting in cuffs on the bed, the police started discussing the house and how nice it was. “How many floors were there? Did it have a garden?” In my head I kept thinking: “Do you not realise what you’ve just done? It’s not a nice house, it’s my family’s house.” I think they all must have shut off a part of their humanity to justify raiding a family home and as I would find out later, putting my mum, dad, my three sisters and younger brother in handcuffs and treating them like criminals.
ٱللَّهُ وَلِيُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُو Allah is the Guardian of the believers.
At this point, my main concern was what was happening to my family. I could hear the raid police stampeding up the stairs making the whole house shake. I kept trying to think where each person would be. It was around time for fajr – the early morning prayer – so I was hoping most of them were already awake.
My 16-year-old brother had fallen asleep in the living room the night before, the closest room to the entrance of the house and I was praying he wasn’t still there. Once the police had identified me and cautioned me, I thought they would stop there and take me to the police station.
Instead, I could still hear them walking around upstairs and then I caught a glimpse of my sister through the half open door of my room. She was being escorted into the living room and seemed to be in a state of shock, but otherwise looked okay – at least I convinced myself that she was okay.
I was still sitting on the side of the bed surrounded by the four raid police just waiting for them to take me away. A few minutes later, I saw them take my dad into the living room; he was clearly handcuffed and I felt a small piece of me die in that moment.
It started to sink in that they must have handcuffed my entire family and were rounding them up in the living room. It crossed my mind that this is exactly the kind of violation that the Palestinians in the West Bank must feel when their homes are routinely raided by the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces), the difference being the very real threat to their lives.
To see your family being treated in such a way and the sanctity of your family home being broken while you’re left feeling completely helpless is a horrible feeling.
ٱللَّهُ وَلِيُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُو Allah is the Guardian of the believers.
After what felt like a lifetime, a female officer was sent in to search me before I could be taken to the police van. At this point, I was shivering because of how cold it was. I didn’t want them to think I was scared so I tried to keep my legs still, but they were shaking on their own accord.
Then I finally got up. They searched my shoes; I put them on and then with one of the men in black in front of me and two behind me, they walked me out of the house and into the police van that was waiting outside. As I was walking through the corridor that goes past the living room, I peeked inside to try and see what was happening to my family. All I saw was my brother in handcuffs surrounded by police officers and I felt sick to my stomach.
The same living room that had been full of laughter the night before, was now being repurposed into a detention room to hold my family!
ٱللَّهُ وَلِيُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُو Allah is the Guardian of the believers.
The police station wasn’t too far from my home so the drive wasn’t long. The entire time my mind was plagued with thoughts of my family and I was praying that the police would let them go quickly, now that they had arrested me.
I was sitting in the back of the police van (still freezing) with three officers in the rows in front of me. Once we got to the police station, they were told that it wasn’t open yet and we would have to wait in the underground car park. More waiting.
I realised I hadn’t prayed fajr yet and was debating whether I should pray in the van or if I should wait until I could make wudu (ablution) and pray properly, even if it meant that I would miss the prayer time.
A clip I’d seen of Moazzam Begg popped into my head – he was recounting the time when he found himself blindfolded and handcuffed in a helicopter being transported to an American detention centre and the man detained next to him asked him if he’d prayed Maghrib, to which he responded that he hadn’t, so in that moment, with no idea with what lay ahead, they prayed Maghrib together.
Then I knew what to do and with the three men in black sitting with their faces still covered in front of me, my hands still cuffed and my hijab haphazardly on my head, I prayed fajr at the back of the police van.
ٱللَّهُ وَلِيُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُو Allah is the Guardian of the believers.
The fact is that on that day, 19 November 2024, the state abducted me from my family home and I now face two years of pre-trial detention.
Human Rights Watch has often criticised countries like Egypt for their use of “prison just in case,” where a baseless suspicion can see a person being jailed. What Human Rights Watch fails to recognise is that such policies exist as a legacy of British colonialism and that the remand system in the UK is exactly that – “prison just in case.”
While the length of time I will be held on remand in detention is unprecedented, I’m not the exception. I have met women who have lost their homes and have been separated from their children for months on end awaiting trial. Even if they are acquitted, this is time they will never get back. Whoever said that the UK upholds the principle that you are innocent until proven guilty, lied.
ٱللَّهُ وَلِيُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُو Allah is the Guardian of the believers.
