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UK Lawyers Report Roger Waters to Counterterrorism Police for Supporting Palestine Action Terrorist Group
Former Pink Floyd bassist and cofounder Roger Waters on stage in Italy. Photo: Reuters/Mirko Fava
An organization of lawyers who support Israel in the United Kingdom has reported former Pink Floyd bassist and cofounder Roger Waters to counterterrorism police in the UK for expressing support for the newly proscribed terrorist group Palestine Action, it was announced on Sunday.
The ban against Palestine Action went into effect on Saturday, after a judge denied a request to delay the UK government from proscribing it as a terror group. Palestine Action uses direct action, mainly targeting Israeli arms companies since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Under the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000, being a member of or expressing support for the group is now a criminal offense that could lead to up to 14 years in prison.
On Saturday night, Waters, 81, posted a video on social media of himself saying he supports Palestine Action “and I always will because that is the right thing to do.” He claimed Palestine Action is a “great organization” that is non-violent in any way, and also displayed a handwritten sign that accused the UK Parliament of being “corrupted by agents of a genocidal foreign power.”
Waters has been a longtime critic of Israel and supporter of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. He has also defended the US-designated terrorist organization Hamas for orchestrating the deadly massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has alleged that Waters is in breach of the Terrorism Act 2000 for expressing support for Palestine Action on Saturday. The pro-Israel organization noted that even if the musician was outside the UK when he posted the video, rules of the Terrorist Act still apply to him as a British citizen in accordance with section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2006.
“Palestine Action have been anything but a non-violent organization, using sledgehammers to smash windows and machinery, and causing millions of pounds of damage over the past few years in order to intimidate the public and certain companies, and to advance their own ideological cause,” UKLFI Director Caroline Turner said in a released statement. “Their activities fell squarely within the definition of Terrorism under the Act. We hope that the police will act in this case and investigate [Waters’] ill-judged words and actions.”
The UK government moved to ban Palestine Action after the group claimed responsibility for an estimated £7 million ($8.2 million) worth of damage that was caused to planes last month at the Royal Air Force Brize Norton air station in Oxfordshire. British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the move to proscribe Palestine Action after the incident and called damage to two military aircrafts “disgraceful.” Cooper claimed Palestine Action had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage.”
On Saturday, Metropolitan Police arrested 29 people for protesting in London’s Parliament Square in support of the banned group. Police said the arrested individuals were being held on suspicion of criminal offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000, according to the BBC.
Palestine Action is reportedly the first direct action protest group to be banned under the Terrorism Act. Other organizations banned in the UK include al Qaeda, Islamic State (ISIS), Hezbollah and the far-right group National Action. Palestine Action cofounder Huda Ammori will seek permission for a judicial review to call off the ban during a hearing scheduled for July 21.
The post UK Lawyers Report Roger Waters to Counterterrorism Police for Supporting Palestine Action Terrorist Group first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
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Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
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Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”