Europe’s criminalization of Palestine solidarity – a new visual

JVL Introduction

Visualizing Palestine, launched in 2012, is dedicated to changing the narrative on Palestine, using “data and research to visually communicate Palestinian experiences”.

As the project explains on its website:

“Palestine is the subject of more than a century of colonial narratives upheld by imperial empires, which sustain the brutal system of Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid we see today. Although the basic facts and root causes of the Palestinian struggle are well-documented, they are frequently denied or obscured by those shielding Israel from accountability. Narrative work is about building spaces to uplift aspirations for liberation, and reach people who want to deepen their understanding and action in partnership with the Palestinian people.”

We repost below the latest VP visual, produced with The European Legal Support Center (ELSC)  which “depicts the architecture of repression, which we must understand as we build the architecture of solidarity”.

RK

Europe’s criminalization of Palestine solidarity – a new visual

When Israeli forces bombed Iran in June 2025, German Chancellor Merz praised them for doing “the dirty work for all of us.” His statement exposes the roots of Europe’s military, economic, and diplomatic support for Israeli genocide and regional aggression. To sustain their “business as usual” policy toward Israel, European governments are criminalizing Palestine solidarity. Our latest visual with The European Legal Support Center (ELSC) depicts this architecture of repression, which we must understand as we build the architecture of solidarity.

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This visual builds on analysis in ELSC’s report “Europe’s Proscription of Palestine Solidarity,” which documents how European governments––including the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and other countries––are using counterterrorism frameworks to criminalize Palestine solidarity and demobilize opposition to genocide. They employ measures reminiscent of colonial emergency laws, suspending basic rights in order to maintain imperial dominance.

ELSC, in collaboration with Forensic Architecture, just launched Britain’s Index of Repression, which provides deeper insight into the multi-sited, institutionalised, and systematic nature of this repression. The public database records 964 verified incidents of legal, institutional, and political repression targeting students, academics, workers, journalists, artists, and organisers standing in solidarity with Palestine in the UK between 2019 and 2025. The database, accompanied by a report, builds on their previous work on Germany’s Index of Repression.

This is an ongoing monitoring project. Report an incident to ELSC here.

Power escalates its violence only when forced to respond to movements it cannot contain.” –Europe’s Proscription of Palestine Solidarity (report), ELSC, August, 2025

While these measures aim to quell support for Palestinian liberation, historical precedent suggests such repressive tactics often fail against determined collective movements for justice. In one important recent victory against the criminalization of Palestine solidarity in Europe, the UK High Court ruled that the government’s ban on Palestine Action was “disproportionate and unlawful.” In a related case, six Palestine Action activists were acquitted of the most serious charges against them. These developments followed a sustained hunger strike by Palestine Action activists held in prolonged pre-trial detention, which we marked in an updated version of our Hunger Strikes visual.

In solidarity,
The VP team