Luka – I know his full name, but he quite understandably wants a degree of privacy – made the mistake of wandering into WHSmith at King’s Cross, minutes before joining a small static protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza on Tuesday evening.
In Smith’s, he bought a copy of last week’s The New World magazine with its cover featuring a photograph of a placard bearing the outlawed words: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
As has now been viewed millions of times on social media, Luka’s evening was about to take an interesting turn.
“I saw the cover and I thought oh, this is genius. It had a satirical element to it, with the headline Sign Of The Times, so I assumed that buying it and carrying it couldn’t get me into trouble. It’s journalism, right?”
Luka, 23, originally from Cornwall and now a student at the Open University, soon realised his assumptions about the safety of carrying a magazine in London were mistaken.
“I could see the police started pointing their evidence cameras at me. Then they started putting it through on their radios. They had singled me out. It’s quite intimidating knowing they are targeting you.”
The police – Metropolitan officers supported by British Transport Police – told Luka he was being arrested under Section 13 of the UK Terrorism Act 2000. The section makes it a criminal offence to display or wear symbols that suggest support for a proscribed terrorist organisation.
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Arrested for holding up a copy of The New World. How bloody un-British
He remained silent and did not resist as the police handcuffed him. At this point, he adopted the familiar non-compliance of many of the more than 2,000 peaceful protestors arrested since Yvette Cooper proscribed Palestine Action. In his words, he “went floppy.” Four policemen carried him off to a waiting van, and then off to the station to be processed.
He is now on police bail and must wait until January, at least, to discover if he will be prosecuted. Of the 50 or so protestors at the event that evening, Luka was the only arrest under the Terrorism Act.
I spoke to Luka for twenty minutes this afternoon. He’s a softly spoken, deeply thoughtful and articulate man with an aversion to publicity or speaking out in public. He comes from a politically aware, supportive family whose sympathies for the plight of the Palestinians long precede the October 7 attack by Hamas and the resulting laying waste of Gaza.
“As I grew up, my father would speak to me about Palestine. I had some basic understanding, but I wasn’t really educated until it came to the forefront of the media after October 7.
“I attended marches with my family. I remember being very moved on the first march I went on. Tearing up at the sea of Palestine flags. It resonated with me emotionally and then after that I went on a big learning journey, which I’m still on.”
During that journey, Luka has regularly attended marches. This is his second arrest under the Terrorism Act. Does he consider himself a terrorist?
“I’m a student and an activist. I’m educating myself and engaging myself in political discourse. When the political system fails to reflect the democratic will of the people, that is when protest becomes legitimate.
“We only have to look through history, whether it’s here or across the globe, to recognise that we can’t always rely on the political system to serve us. And that’s when people have to act in other equally valid forms of democracy. I view Palestine Action as a form of democracy.
“The government has dug itself into a hole. They are criminalising thousands and they’re also smearing and gaslighting us. I believe they are doing this because, with their foreign policy, they are complicit in these crimes in Palestine.”
Luka cites the example of the Suffragettes as an analogy of direct action protest that is now celebrated by politicians from all quarters, but in their day went much further than Palestine Action ever has, including the use of arson and letter bombs.
“It’s a perfect reflection of western hypocrisy, frankly. It was illustrated really well when on around the same day the MPs voted to ban Palestine Action they were celebrating the suffragettes. There’s a photo of them all wearing suffragette sashes.”
I put to him my sense that there is, today in the UK, a creeping authoritarianism from government in its lack of tolerance of peaceful dissent.
“I’d go a step further and say it’s rampant authoritarianism. Keir Starmer is treating the country the same way he treated the Labour Party; kicking out people he doesn’t agree with. There’s an explosion in hypocrisy. We go on about Russia and China, but we should get our own house in order first.”
The arrest is not without consequences. Luka’s partner lives in the United States and his potential prosecution may limit his ability to travel.
“I’m potentially seeing my future career options being restricted. Someone like me, who would like to improve the state of the world, find that kind of work rewarding, in charities and NGOs for instance, I could have those opportunities limited. It’s scary.”
Luka is receiving legal advice, and should the Crown Prosecution Service decide to prosecute, The New World has offered to help source further legal support. We will also be making representations to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
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