Words: Oli Spleen
Feature image: Corrina Eastwood, March for Palestine, Central London, October 11th 2025
Images below: Eamonn Burke-Duggan, Hastings Jews for Justice protest Saturday 21st March 2026
On Saturday April 11, police outnumbered peaceful protesters on Hastings seafront as seven people were arrested simply for holding signs opposing genocide. In February the High Court ruled that this government’s prescription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was unlawful. Why then are we continuing to waste police time and resources on these peaceful protests?
The fallout of the actions of the state of Israel are far reaching, not least against the civilians of Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. The other week a synagogue in Iran was bombed by Israeli forces so it’s not just the Muslim population who are suffering as a consequence of Zionism. Jews, Muslims and Christians used to coexist peacefully in Palestine but the forces of colonialism and apartheid that were set in motion by the 1917 Balfour Declaration have slowly and perniciously crushed any hope of peace.
This “war” did not begin on October 7 2023, the conflict has been ongoing at least since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the subsequent establishment of Israel, leading to the Palestinian “Nakba” exodus (Arabic for catastrophe). Whilst the horrors of October 7 must certainly be condemned, so must the disproportionate actions of a government who is weaponising that day to justify the genocide of an entire population whose land has been systematically stripped from them for decades.
On March 30 2026, lawmakers in Israel passed the “Death Penalty for Terrorists Law”, making Israel one of few democracies to expand capital punishment in recent years. This law mandates death by hanging for offenses classified as “terrorism related” and applies exclusively to Palestinians. The Israeli ministers who signed it into law wore golden nooses on their lapels.
International law requires that death sentences must be reserved only for the most serious offenses, these should follow fair proceedings and allow for the consideration of pardon or commutation. The United Nations has noted that this law fails on all three counts. Now Military courts in the occupied West Bank are empowered to hand down state mandated death sentences to Palestinian prisoners.
Five Israeli soldiers caught on camera raping a Palestinian civilian in Gaza were all acquitted last month. Whilst Jewish settlers are tried in civil courts with a conviction rate of around 2% for crimes against Palestinians and many cases never brought to trial, Palestinians in the West Bank can be held in Israeli prisons indefinitely without charge and are tried in military courts with a conviction rate of around 98%.
The State of Israel would have us believe that any criticism of their actions, such as this article, would automatically deem the critic antisemitic. For this reason I have not previously articulated these points so thoroughly for fear of being perceived this way. I am a long time fan of Jewish culture, philosophy and music, my favourite lyricists, singers and musicians are largely from Jewish heritage. As a songwriter myself I have worked with globally acclaimed Jewish klezmer musicians, many who also share my criticism of Zionism. One close friend who first taught me of this conflict was born in Israel and became an early conscientious objector, refusing the mandatory conscription of the Israeli Defence Forces. I also have the teachings of Kabbalah (ancient Jewish wisdom) to thank for helping me to move away from substance abuse. The actions of the Israeli government stand in stark opposition to the very principles enshrined in Jewish theology.
Nonetheless my refusal to be silent on this conflict has meant that I have lost some close friends and collaborators of many years, some who aren’t Jewish by birth, race or religion. In particular two Brighton friends and longtime collaborators of almost twenty years who said they would no longer work with me as their Jewish partners said they “don’t feel safe” due to the content I was sharing. This content consisted of posts primarily made by Holocaust survivors and Jewish scholars who were speaking out against the genocide of the Palestinian people, reiterating the vow that survivors made after WW2; “never again”, meaning; “never again for anyone”.
My friends’ statement that they don’t feel safe came at the same time that there was an arson attack on a mosque in neighbouring Peacehaven, and whilst I sympathise deeply with these friends and the Jewish community as a whole, I’m sure the local Muslim community hasn’t been feeling safe either. The reinstatement of patriarchal values and the influence of Trump, Putin and Netanyahu means that many of us haven’t been feeling safe for years. Women in general don’t feel safe, especially in light of the recent exposure of widespread rape culture and the rise of toxic masculinity. Many of our queer and transgender friends as well as all those of other ethnicities and cultural backgrounds certainly haven’t been feeling safe.
This is in no small part due to the recent political discourse that targets and scapegoats these groups. Much of this thrust towards the far right here in the UK is being influenced by the likes of Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins, both of whom have recently visited Israel as guests of the IDF.
The IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) states that antisemitism can be defined as, “targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.” It continues; “However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”
For many, this IHRA definition is contentious as it continues to be used by Israel to shut down criticism of its actions. Indeed, some of the examples given to explain the definition begin to conflate the state of Israel and Jewish people as a whole. Many of my Jewish friends perceive this very conflation to be antisemitic, yet feel that to be critical of the actions of the Israeli government or to point out that Israel is committing genocide (as has been confirmed by The International Association of Genocide Scholars and the United Nations), is not in its self antisemitic.
Antisemitism is very real, as is terrorism, but both of these notions have been undermined by our Labour government and its complicity with the state of Israel which it continues to support and supply arms to. The deeming of any critical discourse on the matter to be antisemitic and the branding of peaceful protestors as terrorists is an insult to the actual victims of terror attacks and antisemitism. Especially all those who died in the Holocaust of WW2, whose suffering is being used to justify more carnage and to silence anyone who speaks out against it.
We will not be silenced; never again means NEVER AGAIN!