Mastodawn

A reminder that in spite of a High Court judgement declaring the #UK government's ban of #PalestineAction unlawful, the #met #police decided to resume arrests of people holding signs carrying the PA name. This weekend, 500 people got arrested, including the frontman of #MassiveAttack, #RobDelNaja. You have to wonder why the Met made the strategic decision to waste resource being on the wrong side of history & legality.

https://news.sky.com/story/more-than-200-arrests-made-at-palestine-action-protest-13530519

#palestine #ukpol

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Peter H. Fröhlich 1d ago

@sheislaurence It's what you do when you want to make clear that you are NOT BOUND by the law; you ARE the law; the law IS whatever you decide to do. And there's not a damn thing people or judges can do about it. Not sure what is hard to understand about that.

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sheislaurence 1d ago

@phf that's a logic that works well in the US but is, you'd be surprised, fortunately still not the norm in Europe and/or the UK. The Met have 'disobeyed' the government's recommendations a couple of months ago, so it is entirely possible for them to keep a certain leeway. I don't believe cynicism is particularly helpful, definitely not a strategy *any* of the courageous protesters would support.

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🦩 Plastic Garden Fauna 🦩

@sheislaurence prefering to categorize @phf 's assessment of the metro police's actions as cynical has no bearing upon the fact that it is in fact accurate. This is the authoritarian mindset. It's how authortarians think. He gets it.

Authortarian mindsets are attracted to law ENFORCER roles like flies are to shit, be it in America, the UK, or Pax Romana 0CE. That's just shitty humans being being shitty humans. Being clear eyed and speaking honestly about the Metro's cruelty is not however the same as accepting that cruelty. An injustice you are unwilling to name is an injustice you are unable to confront.

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sheislaurence 1d ago

@OvertonDoors @phf it is suggesting that the #ruleoflaw has no weight in the UK, this is woefully inaccurate. The whole strategy of the arrests is that the rule of law prevails, and it is very much playing the mechanics of the rule of law, going through courts, and winning there. What the police is betting on is delay tactics, cost and chilling effect. That requires a very different countering to the deliberate warfare you are describing (i'd be interested to hear what your strategy would be).

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Peter H. Fröhlich 1d ago

@sheislaurence I don't think I follow as to how ILLEGAL arrests are demonstrating that the RULE OF LAW prevails, but I am sure it makes a lot of sense to you. 🤷

(Note that there are plenty of examples of the executive ignoring judiciary decision all over the place, in lots and lots of so-called democratic countries. But I am sure you'll say that none of those apply to the UK which is somehow different.)

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sheislaurence 19h ago

@phf it will ultimately be shown to be illegal, but the police are playing the clock. Technically the High Court judgement cannot take effect until after the Appeal (by the government) is heard, not yet the case. There's now a 'grey' period, and the new Met commissioner is deliberately choosing a conservative interpretation (unlike his predecessor), likely due to his own political ambitions, as legally he had and could do the opposite. All legal experts are categorical on the ultimate outcome.