How Middle East protests in the UK pose a political headache for police

There have been calls on social media to arrest people showing support for Hamas but policing such disputes raises some complex questions, writes Sean O’Grady

Protesters take part in a Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration near the Israeli embassy in London earlier this week (PA)

Violence in the Middle East has inspired anger and protests around the world. In Britain, there have been noisy demonstrations, flag-waving and minor acts of aggression in a number of cities, and so far the police have adopted a low profile, with few interventions. That may continue, but there have been voices on social media calling for the arrest of those allegedly showing support for Hamas. The law gives the police surprisingly broad powers, but policing such disputes raises some vexed political questions.

Is Hamas a terrorist organisation?

Legally speaking, yes. It has been committing vile acts of terror for decades, unrepentantly. Legally, it was only fully “proscribed” in 2021, as its political arm was previously allowed to operate. The official position is stated thus: “The government now assesses that the approach of distinguishing between the various parts of Hamas is artificial. Hamas is a complex but single terrorist organisation.”

It continues: “Hamas is a militant Islamist movement that was established in 1987, following the first Palestinian intifada. Its ideology is related to that of the Muslim Brotherhood combined with Palestinian nationalism. Its main aims are to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation, the establishment of an Islamic state under Sharia law, and the destruction of Israel.”

What are the penalties for being a member of Hamas or supporting it?

Harsh in the first case, less so in the second. Actual membership of Hamas, which suggests a willingness to commit acts of extreme violence, carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. Lesser offences carry a maximum term of six months, and up to a £5,000 fine.

Support in the criminal sense doesn’t just mean recruiting or raising money: it can also include moral support or approval, or even to “express an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation, reckless as to whether a person to whom the expression is directed will be encouraged to support a proscribed organisation”.

Can you be arrested for waving a Palestinian flag around?

Not as such, and the Palestinian flag is not the Hamas flag, just as the Palestinian people and the residents of Gaza aren’t all Hamas supporters.

Unfortunately, the Palestinian flag does tend to be misused, just as the Irish tricolour is used by violent republicans, and the union jack and St George’s cross are misappropriated by neo-Nazis. The Terrorism Act 2000 is broad enough, potentially, to encompass such an act as representing support for Hamas.

The government guidance states that it’s a criminal offence to “wear clothing or carry or display articles in public in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that the individual is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation (section 13 of the legislation)”.

Indeed, that prohibition applies if you “publish an image of an item of clothing or other article, such as a flag or logo, in the same circumstances”. So that Palestinian flag in your X/Twitter profile might actually be troublesome.

Have there been arrests?

Yes. For example, a 22-year-old woman from Brighton was arrested on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation, Hamas. Four others were arrested in Manchester for a simple breach of the peace at a vigil to remember those killed in the terrorist assaults.

What does the home secretary say?

Never missing a chance to remake law arbitrarily and interfere in police operational matters, Suella Braverman has been at her performative worst, writing to police chiefs on the matter. She’s been almost pressuring officers to interpret the Terrorism Act as she, rather than the police or the courts, might wish: “It is not just explicit pro-Hamas symbols and chants that are cause for concern. I would encourage police to consider whether chants such as: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ should be understood as an expression of a violent desire to see Israel erased from the world, and whether its use in certain contexts may amount to a racially aggravated section 5 public order offence”.

Braverman is right to mention context, but she should have placed more emphasis on it, and thought it through.

Of course, some of those who advocate a Palestinian state stretching from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean would wish it to be achieved by any means necessary, including terror. Others might see it as an objective to be achieved through entirely peaceful means, and one by which Jewish, Arab Muslim, Christian and other people can live happily together in a multicultural state (and this includes some Orthodox Jewish groups who reject the “Zionist” concept of the state of Israel).

Merely displaying or chanting the sentiment, disturbing as it may be, doesn’t say much about a commitment to violence or, if so, in what circumstances. It might make for a difficult court case.

Braverman has also said it is “not acceptable to drive through Jewish neighbourhoods, or single out Jewish members of the public, to aggressively chant or wave pro-Palestinian symbols”. Again, the extent to which that unpleasant, unwise and provocative behaviour amounts to harassment and a breach of the law is difficult to say out of context. “Not acceptable” is more of a political than a legal judgement.

Can you be arrested for waving an Israeli flag?

Presumably, if done in such a manner as to cause a breach of the peace or a threat, but obviously not in connection with terrorism.

What are the party politics of this?

Very little at the moment, as all parties subscribe to a broadly consensual view, and that includes Humza Yousaf – the first minister of Scotland, whose wife’s family live in Gaza – and Layla Moran, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson, who has a Palestinian background. A couple of Labour councillors have resigned over Keir Starmer’s stance, and another has been suspended.

Had Jeremy Corbyn been leading the party in recent days, it’s fair to say that his party conference would have been a stormier affair. Sympathy for the plight of the Palestinian people has not translated into support for Hamas, though some on the hard right have sought to blur the distinction.