Workers within the state machinery, particularly in schools and colleges, are becoming increasingly aware of the British state’s growing anxiety over pro-Palestine (specifically pro-Palestinian resistance) sentiments within Britain. The state has ramped up its vigilance regarding such sentiments, culminating in it making updates and adjustments to the Prevent ‘anti-radicalisation’ strategy guidelines in February and March 2024.
The most fundamental changes, in essence, are a widening of parameters by which the threat (that Prevent is supposed to be ‘containing’) is defined, with an obvious eye toward the support for national-liberation movements of oppressed peoples across the world. Instead of speaking of the need to ‘prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’, the state now speaks of the need to “stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism”. (Our emphasis)
Teachers tasked with spotting sympathy for resistance movements
‘Radicalisation’ is now “the process of a person legitimising support for, or use of, terrorist violence”. There has been a specific switch by the state from referring to ‘extremism’ to ‘terrorism’. Of course, the definition of ‘terrorism’ is whatever the state decrees ‘terrorism’ to be, however arbitrary this designation may be.
This is key, as it conflates almost any divergence from the establishment’s liberal hegemony with outright terroristic violence – seeking to justify itself by appealing to public hysteria and paranoia, whilst also intimidating members of the public into accepting liberal (zionist) ideology as the only acceptable discourse.
In spite of the genocide committed by the zionists in Gaza, the British establishment would never class this barbaric onslaught against unarmed civilians as ‘terrorism’, nor would it criminalise the British supporters of that genocide as supporters of terrorism. The so-called Commission for Countering Extremism has expressed dissatisfaction with Prevent implementation, demanding more fervent adherence by state institutions like schools, with special focus on islamic radicalism.
The Department for Education website outlines what Prevent deems to be indicators of radicalisation into terrorism. The low-risk criteria are particularly telling (and appalling):
- holding strong opinions or values (non-violent or non-extremist)
- criticising government policies
- adopting visible signs, for example wearing clothing (non-violent or non-extremist), to express identity or sense of belonging
- being active on social media
- taking a keen interest in national and international affairs
- demonstrating support and supporting causes, for example animal rights (non-violent)
- showing new interest in a political ideology or religion
- holding or expressing conservative values or practices, whether traditional, cultural or religious (unless they cause harm to a child or others, for example female genital mutilation)
While the website advises that low-risk behaviour need not “necessarily be explored further” when observed in isolation, it does recommend informal chats and safe spaces to debate contentious issues.
This seems innocuous; however, the point is that educators are being encouraged to be extraordinarily vigilant about normal forms of expression – forms of expression that we are told that the state embraces as part of a healthy and functioning democracy (freedom of speech).
Persecuting individuals who have committed no crime
Naturally, the medium and high-risk criteria designate support for or sharing materials of proscribed organisations as an indicator of serious threat – in this case it is advised that the police should be contacted.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman is quoted on the government website as follows:
“The updated Prevent duty guidance provides frontline professionals in education, healthcare and local government with a renewed focus as well as new tools and information to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.” (Managing risk of radicalisation in your education setting, Gov.uk, 7 September 2023)
Given that under United Nations resolutions, Palestinian resistance is in fact lawful, we can see that the government is relying on its designation of resistance factions as ‘proscribed terrorist entities’ to stamp out all support for the Palestinian (as well as Iranian, Lebanese, Yemeni, Syrian etc) resistance by creating a harsher atmosphere of suspicion and fear amongst the population.
PreventWatch, a community-led initiative that “provides legal advice and documents the impact of Prevent on individuals and communities” notes:
“Prevent addresses ideas – ideologies – which, in themselves, are lawful. The government takes to itself the definition of what is to be judged ‘extremist’. This is a form of state-directed censorship which is necessarily authoritarian.” (Prevent is political: No ‘new definition of extremism’, only a war on ideas, 14 March 2024)
The PreventWatch website documents numerous cases of false flag Prevent referrals and victim testimonies from those who have been harmed by such referrals. Going through a Prevent referral often leaves people traumatised, forever looking over their shoulder, feeling that they cannot speak honestly or trust others.
Robin Simcox, the current commissioner for countering extremism at the Home Office, said:
“I think it’s important for us as a country to have those difficult conversations [about extremism], and I don’t regard them as political.” A completely vacuous statement that seeks to conceal the obvious fact that all of this is deeply political.
Later in the same article, he said the following: “My view throughout was that it’s a really febrile atmosphere at the moment, and post-7 October [when Hamas launched the resistance operation Al-Aqsa Flood], the extremism challenges this country faces have been amplified,” he said.
“If the only response to that was a new definition of extremism, I think most people would view that as an unsatisfactory outcome. There has to be more to the work than just, well, we’re going to define it in a different way … I do want there to be some follow-through to it; it can’t just be words.”
The author further remarked that he “does not think we can go back to how we were before 7 October”. In the same article, Simcox expressed his view that it would be prudent to proscribe Iran’s armed forced (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), and that islamic extremism was his number one priority. Thus it is as clear as day that these ‘counter-terrorism’ measures are aimed at stamping out support for every part of the resistance axis in west Asia – resistance movements that seek to end decades of Anglo-American zionist aggression in the region. (Robin Simcox: ‘Extremism is not always a black-and-white issue’ by Anoosh Chakelian, New Statesman, 24 April 2024)
Dystopian reality of decaying imperialist Britain
Comrades of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) (CPGB-ML) have already experienced first hand the effects of this heavy-handed attempt at censorship and repression, culminating in multiple arrests at Palestine solidarity demonstrations in the last year. Their pamphlet condemning zionism, its imperialist roots and antisemitic modus operandi, was targeted ruthlessly – leading to arrests and ridiculous bail terms.
Farcically, the reason given was that the pamphlet was racist. The state made a specific effort toward intimidating comrade Ranjeet Brar – contacting his employers as well as social services, potentially risking the wellbeing of his three children. (Anti-zionism is not racism! Join our protest today! and , The Communists, 26 November 2023 and 19 January 2024 respectively)
Another day, another ruthless attempt at suppressing expressions of democratic will – while forcing the notion of democracy as a ‘core British value’ down everyone’s throat. The state is evidently terrified by the masses’ furious uproar against the zionist genocide, which has now turned its eyes toward terrorising civilians in Lebanon.
Still more calculated effort is being made towards intimidating the population of Britain, with an especially wicked and egregious eye towards the surveillance and intimidation of muslim youth in educational settings. It should not be forgotten that the very same British state has both funded and armed the most rabid, fascistic islamic terrorist organisations for decades – the very same organisations that the Axis of Resistance heroically fought against. (Syria: The liberation of Aleppo, Lalkar, 1 January 2017)
While it remains true that the state is behaving in a maniacal and tyrannical fashion, let us rejoice that the wisdom of the masses is such that British support for the resistance is proving to be an everlasting thorn in the side of the imperialists.
