London Diary: Age no bar for plucky campaigner towards Gaza genocide
Who says ardour and idealism wither away as one grows older? Meet Reverend Sue Parfitt, a priest from Bristol, who at 83 is simply as enthusiastic about humanitarian causes as she was when youthful.
At the moment, she is on the forefront of the marketing campaign towards Israel’s brutal army motion in Gaza which has already claimed 1000’s of lives whereas the worldwide group watches from the sidelines.
On 5 July, Parfitt was arrested for collaborating in a peaceable protest in London’s Parliament Sq.. A video of her holding a placard supporting a banned marketing campaign group went viral. It learn: ‘I oppose genocide. I assist Palestine Motion.’
The retired Anglican priest had travelled to London from the west of England. She took half within the protest sitting on a fold-away seat earlier than she was led away by officers, strolling stick in hand.
Parfitt described herself as a “long-standing supporter of Palestine” who has repeatedly visited the West Financial institution. “I really feel the Israeli authorities is committing genocide in Gaza and practising apartheid within the occupied West Financial institution,” she stated.
The arrest got here simply hours after the Labour authorities designated Palestine Motion as a ‘terrorist group’ for its ‘direct motion’ attacking security-sensitive targets. Requested if she thought it was a terrorist group, Parfitt stated: “After all not. Civil disobedience has a protracted and honourable historical past on this nation. Our authorities is cowering to the highly effective Israeli foyer.”
Parfitt’s arrest has been extensively condemned even by those that don’t agree with Palestine Motion’s strategies. Urging that she be launched, a good friend Jerry Hicks stated: “She is towards genocide and that’s not against the law”.
Many took to social media to voice their assist for her, whereas criticising the UK authorities and police for silencing any criticism of the conflict on Gaza.
An estimated 61,700 Palestinians have already been killed in Israel’s army assaults, which has been labelled a genocide by Amnesty Worldwide. Israel has blocked emergency support from coming into the Strip whereas civilians have been systematically focused at support distribution websites.
“In response to [Prime Minister Keir] Starmer’s new regulation, this places her [Parfitt] in the identical class as an ISIS or Al-Qaeda terrorist, with a jail sentence of as much as 14 years,’ wrote journalist and activist Owen Jones.
A publish on X learn: ‘We’re not dwelling in a rational civilised democratic society. How is that this 83-year-old priest thought-about a “terrorist” for supporting Palestine Motion? That is like one thing out of a Kafkaesque nightmare.’
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Fixing Britain’s damaged group relations
The alarming rise of a nationalist far proper is enjoying havoc with Britain’s group cohesion, together with Hindu–Muslim relations, usually culminating in violence.
Recollections of the 2022 riots in Leicester, also called ‘Little India’, are nonetheless recent. Final summer time was marred by violent clashes between white supremacists and largely Muslim immigrants after rumours unfold that an asylum-seeker was behind an assault on a dance class — killing three youngsters and injuring eight.
Misinformation and anti-immigrant sentiment spurred nationwide violence with rioters focusing on inns that housed asylum-seekers, smashing home windows and attacking cops.
Now, an all-party fee has been appointed to look at the ‘deepening polarisation’ in British society. It has advocate measures to ‘repair’ it. The Impartial Fee on Group and Cohesion will develop a coverage agenda for the federal government with the goal of sparking a nationwide dialog in regards to the type of nation the general public needs.
Led by former Conservative cupboard minister Sajid Javid and former Labour MP Jon Cruddas, its principal focus will likely be on figuring out the ‘forces driving disconnection and divisions’.
“This fee,” Javid stated, “has been established to take a protracted view, suggest radical coverage modifications and, crucially, assist forge a cross-society consensus about how we wish to reside collectively now and sooner or later.” He lamented that social cohesion had been handled as a “second tier” challenge by successive governments.
The initiative coincides with a brand new Refugee Council report expressing concern over a scarcity of presidency effort to combine refugees into British life.
The Fee has been extensively welcomed and one is sort of inclined to commend it to the Indian political class.
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Extra hurdles for overseas college students in Britain
There’s extra unhealthy information for worldwide college students, with the British authorities beneath growing stress to scrap the graduate visa route aside from these pursuing postgraduate analysis levels.
This follows a report from the right-wing think-tank, Coverage Alternate, claiming that overseas college students are utilizing universities as a ‘again door’ to long-term settlement within the UK.
The federal government has already taken a sequence of measures to examine the alleged abuse of pupil visas as a part of a broader crackdown on immigration. Earlier this yr, it diminished the size of time abroad college students can reside and work within the UK from two years to 18 months.
College students, aside from these pursuing postgraduate analysis programs, are additionally banned from bringing dependants with them. Critics are pushing again, pointing to the contribution overseas college students make to the British economic system.
Jo Grady, general-secretary of the College and Faculty Union, stated: “Worldwide college students are important to the monetary stability of our larger schooling sector; additionally they contribute tens of billions of kilos to the UK economic system every year.”
A case of politics trumping economics.
And, lastly, even on this trendy age of sneakers, apparently the true signal of a gentleman in Britain stays whether or not his sneakers are polished sufficient to see your face in them.
