NLGP Exec member David Mottram gives a few personal reflections on being arrested on Saturday in Manchester under section 12 of the Terrorism Act, 2000, in a police action apparently named ‘Operation Wildflower’:

“I was one of over 100 people arrested at protests across the country on Saturday (19th July), organised by Defend Our Juries. The offence? Holding a placard saying ‘I Oppose Genocide. I Support Palestine Action’, part of the campaign to lift the proscription of Palestine Action. I was arrested at 12.30pm, and locked in a single cell at Pendleton police station by 2pm. I was finally released at 10pm, and was relieved to find a group of people volunteers from the Defend Our Juries police station support operation waiting outside to support me.

I cannot remember having been inside a police station before, let alone a cell, but the first few hours were fine. I was doing the right thing, and the adrenalin was carrying me through. Eight hours later, in a cell with no natural light, poor ceiling lighting, and denied personal possessions including a wristwatch, I was less sanguine. The experience felt increasingly disorientating, perhaps frightening.

The previous weekend, South Wales Police raided the homes of people arrested under section 12 at the protest in Cardiff. It was upsetting, held incommunicado in a police cell, to know that my partner might be about to face the police alone at home. In the event, this didn’t happen to any of the people arrested in Manchester.

Saturday will only be part of the eventual story. Draconian bail conditions for the next three months are going to have a strong impact, including being banned from entering central Manchester, and being required to ‘live and sleep each night’ at home in Lancaster.”

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She condemned the destructive impact of military funding and the cycle of violence, highlighting that every weapon and pound spent on conflict is a blow against peace and humanity.

She called for an end to arming Israel and advocated for resources to be shifted towards humanitarian aid and diplomatic solutions.

Suhir urged for leaders and citizens alike to to raise their voices, demand justice, unite in compassion and determination and commit to creating a world where families, and all those affected by violence, can live free from fear, in peace and dignity.

Some excerpts from Suhir’s speech:

“The flow of arms and funding into this conflict doesn’t bring peace; it fuels destruction. It tears down futures rather than building them. Every pound spent, every weapon used, every bomb dropped is an assault on the hope of peace. It is time to end the arming of Israel, to break this endless cycle of suffering.

Today, we’re here not only to voice our grief but to demand change. The weapons, the funding, the policies that fuel this violence, they must end. Every bomb dropped, every shot fired, is an attack not just on lives and homes but on peace itself, on the dream of a future where all can live free from fear.

We call on our leaders to listen. We demand an end to the cycle of arms and escalation. We call for resources to be redirected from destruction to diplomacy, to humanitarian aid, to the rebuilding of lives and communities torn apart by violence.”

Green Party member Alan Marsden also spoke: about the Israeli domination of the Gaza narrative and their assistance from British Zionist Media particularly in coverage of the Amsterdam football riot; and about the several British Journalists who are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, who have been raided by security services and had their electronic devices confiscated, and face charges under the Terrorism Acts.

Palestine Action and Resources

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