News- World : Instead of addressing Israel’s “livestreamed genocide” in Gaza, the British government is misusing anti-terrorism laws to silence protesters, who are speaking out for Palestinian rights, Amnesty International’s secretary general has said.

Addressing Amnesty UK’s National Conference, Agnes Callamard said Sunday that London “seems more bent on abusing terrorism laws to restrict protests rather than addressing the root cause behind these actions – livestreamed genocide in Gaza.”

Callamard made the remarks after the government officially classified the pro-Palestinian campaign group, Palestine Action, as a “terrorist organization” from midnight on Saturday.

The group has focused much of its campaign on Elbit Systems UK, which it accuses of manufacturing and supplying weapons to the Israeli military amid the regime’s genocidal war on Gaza. It says direct action is necessary to “end British facilitation of those crimes” being committed by the regime in Gaza.

Under the new legislation, membership in or public support for the group is now a criminal offense in the UK, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.  

Palestine Action previously said that while the UK government “is rushing through Parliament absurd legislation to proscribe Palestine Action, the real terrorism is being committed in Gaza.”

Protesters on Saturday gathered at Parliament Square, defying a warning from the Metropolitan Police, who said expressing support for the group “is a criminal offense.”

The Met said on Saturday afternoon that its forces had arrested 29 protesters on suspicion of “terror offenses.”

Police also arrested an octogenarian priest for holding a placard that read, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

The arrest of the 83-year-old retired priest, Sue Parfitt, has sparked widespread outrage on social media, with one user describing it as “the march of authoritarianism & crackdown on freedom of speech & expression.”

Parfitt’s friend, Jerry Hicks, demanded her release, saying, “She is against genocide & that’s not a crime.”

Since the start of Israel’s devastating war on Gaza in October 2023, the UK has seen some of the largest pro-Palestinian demonstrations in its history, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets demanding an end to British arms exports to Tel Aviv.

Rights groups and legal experts have repeatedly voiced concern over the UK’s military and diplomatic support for Israel — particularly its continued licensing of weapons components used in attacks on Gaza — warning that such support could amount to complicity in the regime’s genocide in Gaza. 

Source: Press TV