Following the arrests by police of Pro-Palestine protestors in Tower Hamlets, the latest being Waseem Yousaf, last Friday. Are we witnessing a clampdown on legitimate Pro-Palestine protests? A clampdown being orchestrated by Rushanara Ali and the local Labour Party? Therefore, a breach of election laws?
Interference with the Operational Independence of the Police?
Or
Voter Intimidation, under the Elections Act 2022?
Fortunately, in the United Kingdom, our policing model ensures operational independence by law. This contrasts with many countries, such as Bangladesh, where such independence is lacking. However, this does not render the police immune from being used for party political purposes.
On the 20th of June, around midnight, I received a phone call from a Labour Party member. He informed me that he had just left a meeting where leading campaigners from the Rushanara Ali campaign were coaching members to file complaints with the police about harassment and intimidation. Approximately 20 names were provided for complaints.
He disclosed the names of those instigating the complaints and stated they were instructed to use these complaints as a tool to intimidate community stakeholders into supporting Labour and Rushanara Ali. The names given to members to be added to these complaints were prominent pro-Palestine activists in the area.
The conversation then shifted to mosques. He mentioned that “war on terror” tropes would be used to compel the police to take action against mosques, such as Jamiatul Ummah in Shadwell, singled out due to public the pro-Palestine stance of one of the Imams. This was intended to send a clear message about the consequences of pro-Palestine activism.
I noted the phone call but didn’t dwell on it. Would the police fall for a coordinated campaign of vexatious complaints and intervene in the elections on behalf of the Labour Party?
On election day, I was surprised to hear about what residents on the Chicksands Estate described as a police raid. The estate was cleared so Rushanara Ali and Labour activists could canvass the area. One resident at Pauline House mentioned that the number of police officers deployed intimidated her neighbours, deterring them from voting. She attributed this to their migrant background and their experience of policing in Bangladesh, where the ruling party often uses the police to suppress civilian protests and opposition members.
Immediately after the ‘police raid’ on the Chicksands Estate, three pro-Palestine activists were arrested on Whitechapel Road, only to be released without charge the morning after the election results were announced. An abuse of police deployment under the guise of Operation Bridger?
Project Fear and the Stirring Up of Divisive Politics?
Or
Stirring Up Racial Hatred Under the Public Order Act of 1986?
The alleged misuse of police resources is already concerning, but Rushanara Ali and the Labour Party have further stirred controversy by launching a campaign perceived by many as an effort to incite racial hatred. They have been accused of mischaracterising legitimate concerns and protests about the ongoing genocide in Palestine as sectarian.
During the election campaign, there was the notorious Anna letter. A letter was sent to non-Bangladeshi and non-Somali households, which the Tower Hamlets Community Coalition (THCC) condemned as Islamophobic. Following the election, Rushanara Ali and the local Labour Party appeared in a BBC interview and an interview with The Times. In those interviews Islamophobic rhetoric was used, targeting mosques, and labelling a pro-Palestine protest led by a veiled woman and her children as misogynistic (an Islamophobic trope).
Isolated Incidents?
Or
Concerted Efforts to clamp down on legitimate protests about the ongoing Genocide and War Crimes in Palestine?
All these incidents culminated in the arrest of Wasim Yousaf on Friday, July 12th. Many residents view the arrest not as an isolated event but as part of a broader effort by the local Labour Party, in coordination with the police, to suppress legitimate pro-Palestine protests.
This sentiment was evident in a demonstration held the night of Wasim’s arrest, accompanied by a petition that has garnered over 20,000 signatures. The situation has led to a significant erosion of trust in policing and created a highly polarised atmosphere.
This raises the question: while we are supposed to have operational independence of the police from political interference on paper, do we truly have it in practice?
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