New UK cabinet promises more of the same – and worse

Those seeking a full and open discussion of Middle East affairs, especially in relation to Israel/Palestine, will bear the brunt of the government’s promised gagging legislation.

It is both depressing and disturbing to watch the unveiling of the new Conservative cabinet, especially the key posts involving freedom of speech. The appointments promise both continuity and a ratcheting up of previous policies, now that the Tory party is free of even the mildest restraint exercised by their former Lib Dem partners.

Two posts in particular are a cause for concern.

Theresa May as Home Secretary has been the most vocal member of the cabinet in stoking islamaphobia in general and in trying to muzzle speakers on Israel/Palestine in particular. Many will remember her disgraceful role in the Sheikh Raed Salah affair.

The Palestinian activist, a citizen of Israel and three times elected mayor of the town of Umm Al-Fahm, came to London in 2011 to talk about his work opposing the illegal settlements and demolitions in Jerusalem, especially where they affected sites of religious significance. Even in Israel such opposition is – or was at the time – permissible. Sheikh Raed came legally and openly on a UK visa and began a programme of public meetings, open to all, including at the House of Commons.

Theresa May, apparently prompted by vigorous lobbying by the pro-Israel charity Community Security Trust, sought to have him deported for undefined “unacceptable behaviour”, implying incitement to racial hatred and antisemitism. After many months of expensive legal wrangling, during which the Sheikh was under virtual house arrest, the case was thrown out and the Home Secretary found herself humiliated – and no doubt regretting her reliance on the misinformation provided by the CST.

(Subsequently Sheikh Raed Salah has been banned from entering Jerusalem and from travelling outside the country, in part perhaps to spare Ms May and other pro-Zionist politicians the embarrassment of having to flout their own laws in an effort to expel him.)

The second disquieting appointment – Michael Gove as Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor– is reminiscent of Henry Kissinger being awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. This is the man whose high-handed approach as Minister for Education led to the National Union of Teachers calling unanimously for his resignation since he had “lost the confidence of the teaching profession … [and] failed to conduct his duties in a manner befitting the head of a national education system”. Feelings ran so high that he had to be reshuffled to the minor post of Government Chief Whip.

While Minister for Education Gove showed himself, like Theresa May, to be vulnerable to the Zionist lobby. A Palestinian literary festival, regularly held in north London and attracting internationally known literary and media figures such as Irish travel writer Dervla Murphy, American novelist Sarah Schulman and filmmaker Peter Kosminsky, was targeted by people who were no doubt well aware of Mr Gove’s strong support for Israel. He was persuaded to write a letter, couched in very threatening terms, to the heads of all the schools in the area, telling them they must not allow their students to attend. This was, ostensibly, to protect them from such dangerous extremists as Michael Rosen, former (Jewish) poet laureate for children. The organisers spent two years trying to get Gove to reveal the correspondence that had persuaded him of these dangers to young minds, using the Freedom of Information Act. To no avail. (Incidentally, one of the chief organisers of the Festival, Andy Simons, was attacked at the Festival by Zionist thugs who were subsequently convicted of assault.)

We can expect many more such gagging dictats from Mr Gove, given the power invested in his new role. He and other cabinet members are after all architects of the highly controversial Prevent strategy, according to which the government has the right to ban any “extremists”, even if their message is absolutely non-violent. It has been widely criticised as a thinly veiled attempt to intimidate Britain’s Muslim community.

Existing British and European law has so far proved something of an obstacle to the arbitrary expulsion or silencing of people who voice uncomfortable truths. Hence the moves to change such legislation: Michael Gove’s first job is said to be scrapping the European Human Rights Act, to be replaced by a British “bill of rights”.

No doubt the new legislation will contain the kind of terminology much loved by Theresa May, such as “British values” and “extremists”. The first, as a single definable body of opinion, clearly does not exist in our highly diverse society. The second will be defined as anybody who does not agree with Ms May and her colleagues. On the government’s past showing, one can guess that many people writing or speaking out on Israel’s egregious violations of international law will be held to be “extremist”.

If anyone doubts the power of the pro-Israel lobby to heavily influence the government they should take another look at Channel 4’s 2009 Dispatches programme, Inside Britain’s Israel Lobby, in which the Telegraph investigative journalist Peter Oborne gives detailed evidence of the work of the lobby in political and media circles. Since then Zionist propaganda engines like Bicom, CAMERA and Honest Reporting, have gone into overdrive, attacking media sources and individuals critical of Israel. Could such a documentary by made now? Tragically, probably not.

Hilary Wise is a writer, academic and activist for Palestinian rights.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.