UK’s silencing of Solidarity with Palestine will end
JVL Introduction
In this article, Rachel Spence, who is an anti-Zionist Jew by the way, outlines some of the ways and some of the examples where free speech on Palestine has been suppressed as well as examples of dfferent responses to Islamophobic attacks compared with antisemitic attacks and incidents.
She points out that many Palestinians living in Britain are traumatised and can be blocked from describing their own experiences let alone their feelings of trauma.
The clampdown on free speech has been identified internationally, here Spence refers to the 2026 report from censorship tracker Freemuse that usually focuses on regimes such as Iran and UAE but this time “dedicated a section to the cancellation of Palestinian expression in UK cultural institutions”.
But this cannot last; the truth is available to all who choose not to actively look away. It is taking too long but this too will end.
This article was originally published by The New Arab on Fri 3 Jul 2026. Read the original here.
Britain's censorship of Palestine is doomed to fail
Britain’s crackdown on Palestine solidarity across communities and faiths is eroding free speech and harming democracy, argues Rachel Spence.
Loading article text…
It will end. And then everyone will pretend it didn’t happen. We must never let them forget what has happened and their guilt in allowing it.
The article as reproduced by JVL has omitted the paragraph below which is crucial to understanding Spence’s reference to the vituperative responses to a post by Harriman,
The risk extends to all who are committed to truth and justice. Consider the treatment of Misan Harriman. The renowned photographer and chair of the Southbank Centre, Harriman, called out the media and the Metropolitan police for failing to report that the assailant responsible for attacking two Jewish men in Golders Green had previously stabbed a Muslim man.
Thanks Rachel for illuminating and optimistic summary.
Could JVL do anything to publicise South Bank Chair Harriman after his important comments re the Manchester stabbings.
Thank you for your article Rachel.
Hannah Arendt’s insight remains unsettlingly relevant. ‘When truth is corroded, it is not replaced by another belief—it is replaced by confusion. And confusion, left unchecked, becomes the perfect soil for control.’
And
Desmond Tutu said, “Oppression not only destroys the oppressed but it corrodes and ultimately destroys the oppressor too.”