On 17 October two members of the Inminds group, which campaigns in solidarity with Palestine, were arrested on a Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) demonstration in London. Abbas Ali’s and Antonio Maniscalco’s alleged crime was to fly the flag of Hezbollah alongside the Palestinian flag against the wishes of the PSC leadership, who through their actions in denouncing the two men from the platform, encouraged the police to arrest them.
The two men were questioned by SO15 counter-terrorism officers, their homes were raided and computers and Inminds campaign material seized. Draconian bail conditions were imposed, preventing them from being involved in any Palestine solidarity events.
This was not the first time the PSC has colluded with the police against Inminds activists. At a demonstration against Netanyahu’s visit to Downing Street in September 2015, the PSC leadership involved the police in an unsuccessful attempt to force Inminds to remove their banner.
In its desire to keep its alliance with the Labour Party the PSC has sacrificed the interests of the struggle of the Palestinian people. As part of a growing campaign against G4S and their role in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the local Brighton PSC group wanted to have a petition on the national PSC’s stall in the Labour Party conference demanding that the Labour Party end its contracts with G4S. The PSC leadership refused. It was left to Inminds, who had a stall outside the conference, to display and promote the petition. Since then, under Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour Party has cancelled its G4S contracts.
Bob Shepherd
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 248 December 2015/January 2016
