Outrage after UK police arrest retired Jewish professor
Several academics and writers have expressed dismay after police in the United Kingdom arrested retired professor and filmmaker Haim Bresheeth after he gave a speech at a pro-Palestinian protest in London.
Bersheeth is a child of Holocaust survivors who grew up in Israel and is also the founder of the activist group, Jewish Network for Palestine.
The group said Bersheeth was arrested on November 1 on “spurious charges of terrorism” but was released later that night. His case has been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service, it said.
Journalist Antony Loewenstein, in a post on X, described Bresheeth’s arrest as “absurd and dangerous” and noted that he was detained after giving a “considered speech on Palestine”.
Writer Jonathan Cook, in another post on X, said the video recording of Breseeth’s speech meant “we can all hear for ourselves that nothing he said contravened the draconian Terrorism Act”.
An absurd and dangerous situation when peaceful protestor, great thinker and academic @HaimBresh is arrested after giving a considered speech on Palestine in the UK.
More details about his speech here: https://t.co/wIu5qDzNSj
Haim appears in episode 1 of my @DropSiteNews podcast… https://t.co/0nKsbTFGJO
— Antony Loewenstein (@antloewenstein) November 4, 2024
Activists vandalise Glasgow office of pro-Israel company
Members of the Action for Palestine group vandalised the Allianz insurance company in Glasgow, Scotland, spraying it with red paint, according to footage verified by Al Jazeera.
Activists daubed the offices of the German insurance company with red paint in protest over the company’s links with Elbit Systems. The group said Allianz provides insurance to Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons company which works closely with the Israeli military.
On its instagram page, the group wrote: “Days after repairs following our last move, activists returned to Allianz’s office in Glasgow, which provides insurance and invests in Israel’s largest weapons company (Elbit Systems). Without insurance, Elbit cannot operate in Britain.”
Pro-Palestine vigil in Belgium includes burning of Balfour Declaration
Pro-Palestine activists in the Belgian city of Ghent have burned papers with the text of the Balfour Declaration during a protest against Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, video verified by Al Jazeera shows.
Footage showed a group of activists setting fire to documents representing the Balfour Declaration on its 107th anniversary while chanting, “Freedom for Palestine.”
The declaration, issued by the British government during World War I, gave support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.
