SUTR works hard to shut down Palestinian voices

This two-minute video is extracted from a recording of a demonstration in Oxford in the last few days. It is shocking; a Palestinian has the mic and starts to speak about Palestinian freedom to the crowd at a supposedly anti-racist demonstration. The organisers quickly gaslight her by claiming that people were leaving as a result of her raising the subject of Palestine. They further demand that she stop speaking about Palestine at all. The organisers switch off the mic until protests from outraged demonstrators force them to switch it back on.

The claim that people were leaving is almost certainly untrue – solely intended to silence the Palestinian speaker. Even if it were true, the organisers were telling the speaker that if it came to a choice between some supporters of Israel leaving and shutting down the Palestinian, their choice is to silence her.

Shocking but not surprising given that during ten months of genocide Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) has yet to issue any statement condemning this greatest racist atrocity. So the Labour Government is supporting Israel’s right to deny water to the Palestinians of Gaza, the Scottish Government is still refusing to acknowledge that Israel is committing genocide, academics are fired from their jobs for supporting Palestine, SPSC activists face incessant criminal charges. And the “left-wing” cadre of a supposedly anti-racist movement works to silence Palestinian voices in order to accommodate those who cannot bear to hear of Israel’s leading role in the international ultra-right axis.

And this at a time of Israel’s open defence of torturing and raping Palestinian prisoners. SUTR silences testimony on the tens of thousands of children butchered, many still under the rubble. B’Tselem, its largest human rights organisation, categorises Israel as a Jewish Supremacist state “from the river to the sea”. This truth cannot be uttered on some ‘anti-racism’ demonstrations in the UK.
Mick Napier
West Calder
9 August 2024
contact@oxfordstanduptoracism.org.uk