‘Censoring Palestine’ – new film with Ken Loach exposes UK govt’s war on pro-Palestinian dissent

Starmer regime is criminalising dissent, say makers of The Big Lie in new film

The Starmer government’s recent campaign of arrests of and raids on anti-genocide activists through the misuse of counter-terrorism laws is just the “tip of an intimidation iceberg” of attacks on freedom of speech and dissent, according to the producer of a new film.

Film-maker Norman Thomas of Platform Films said:

We are seeing a state-sponsored clampdown designed to silence anyone who speaks out or demonstrates in support of Palestine. The arrests we’ve seen so far are just the tip of an intimidation iceberg. The government is criminalising dissent.

Thomas’s comments are based on research carried out for the new Platform Films documentary “Censoring Palestine” which will be released  in December.

In recent weeks police raids on activists and journalists including Sarah Wilkinson, Richard Medhurst and Asa Winstanley, the arrest of the Jewish academic Haim Bresheeth and of Jewish writer Tony Greenstein, have caused outrage and anger but, according to Norman Thomas, these in no way reflect the true scale of the problem. He said:

In the course of making our film, we’ve coming across so many cases of people who’ve been treated scandalously by the police and whose only crime has been to protest against the genocide in Palestine.

Police break down their doors, impose curfews on them, restrict where they can and can’t go, limit their use of social media, confiscate equipment they need for work and, in some cases, treat them with brutality.

Thomas says the film’s makers are also collecting more and more many stories of “doxxing” — with Palestine supporters being reported, often anonymously, to their employers in an attempt to put them out of work. Thomas has appealed for more victims to come forward confidentially:

People are being smeared to their employers as antisemitic simply for going on a Palestine demo. Some even lose their jobs. Teachers and students in particular have been attacked in this way.

This kind of victimisation and intimidation thrives on being kept secret. We are appealing to anyone who has been targeted, whether by the police or in their workplace, to come and tell us their story. We will respect total confidentiality but we must expose the extent of what’s happening.

Platform Films is the producer of “Oh Jeremy Corbyn – The Big Lie”, which tells the story of the rise and fall of the Labour leader and  was shown across the country last year – and was the subject of a ban by the Unite union and an attempt by Starmer’s Labour to intimidate members and representatives into not watching it. Thomas says the current attacks on pro-Palestine activists have a strong echo of the way antisemitism was weaponised against Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters, but reflects ‘desperation’ on the part of Israel’s supporters:

The same people determined to smear Corbyn are now taking part in a campaign to smear the pro-Palestine protesters. But this is all on a much bigger scale and, I think, reflects the desperation of the pro-Israel lobby and the size of the Palestine solidarity campaign.

The film “Censoring Palestine”, which also features legendary filmmaker Ken Loach, journalist Peter Oborne and others, will be released next month and local groups are being invited to set up screenings.

A trailer for the new film can be seen below:

As with ‘Oh Jeremy Corbyn – The Big Lie’, the producers are making the film available to watch free of charge but will welcome donations.

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