Israeli protester 'treated like terrorist' after taking on Netanyahu's ambassador to UK

Son of Holocaust survivors faces more than a year of investigations, as lawyer warns arrests of activists have 'chilling effect' on free speech

Haim Bresheeth is one of a growing number of pro-Palestine activists to be arrested in the past year under the UK's Terrorism Act 2000. Photo: skwawkbox.org

An Israeli man arrested under the UK's terrorism laws, after giving a speech outside the Israeli ambassador's residence in north London, fears he could face more than a year of investigations.

Retired lecturer Haim Bresheeth told The National he was arrested after participating in a rally this month, but was he not told the charges he faced until he arrived at a police station.

“Two officials from the terror squad interrogated me at length during the early morning. I told them that I’m speaking against genocide,” he said.

Speaking after his release, Mr Bresheeth said his case was referred to the Crown Prosecution Service. "They realised they couldn't charge me, so they have continued the harassment by sending it to the Crown Prosecution Service, who will take a year or two to investigate," he added.

Mr Bresheeth, who undergoes regular treatment for cancer and is also a British national, described his speech as “factual reporting” about Israel’s war on Gaza. He was told he was arrested for saying “Israel has won a number of wars against very big and successful armies, but they cannot win against Hamas, they cannot win against Hezbollah, they cannot win against the Houthis, they cannot win against the united resistance to the genocide that they have started".

“What I said can be read and heard on every newspaper or news channel for months now,” he said.

Netanyahu loyalist

Israel's ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, previously served in Cabinet under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, before she was appointed as envoy in 2020. Mr Bresheeth has held protests outside her residence almost every week for the past year, since she made public comments about the war that were denounced as an "incitement of genocide".

Lat year, she compared of Israel's war on Gaza to the British bombing of Dresden in the Second World War, telling Sky News that "600,000 Germans were killed in your attacks on Hamburg and Dresden. Why? Because you knew this was the only way you could defeat the Nazis".

Mr Bresheeth accused the UK government of turning a blind eye to her remarks. “She has the honour of ambassador and does not face expulsion, while I am arrested as a terrorist. This is a legal war,” he added. "This is the mindset of people – they break the law with their incitement of genocide."

Mr Bresheeth, whose parents survived the Holocaust, believed he was being singled out because of his faith and anti-Zionist beliefs. “They are targeting people like me who are Jewish, in my case Israeli, anti-Zionist, trying to stop the genocide,” he said.

He is one of a growing number of pro-Palestine activists arrested in the past year under the Terrorism Act 2000, over speeches made at rallies or comments posted on social media.

The Israeli Embassy in the UK was contacted for comment.

Criminal lawyer Raj Chada represented the Colston Four, who were found not guilty of criminal damage after a statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down in 2020. Getty Images

Free speech

A leading lawyer in the UK has warned that such arrests represent a “disproportionate” use of the law that will have a “chilling effect” on freedom of speech and right to protest in the UK. Raj Chada said the terrorism law was being used increasingly to arrest pro-Palestine protesters.

“The question is why the state, police or prosecuting bodies are considering terrorism charges [for speeches], which until a few years ago would have been policed with a public order act,” he told The National. “The disproportionate response to speeches made at a protest – even if it does cross a line – is not what the terrorism act was brought in to do."

Invoking terrorism laws goes beyond their initial purpose, Mr Chada added.

The act was devised to charge figures including Abu Hamza Al Masri, an imam in north London who made speeches in support of violent extremists and was jailed for life in New York. Pro-Palestine campaigners who have been detained under UK terrorism laws are often accused of supporting Hamas. “In the Palestine case, there is the use of support to a proscribed organisation, they are confusing in our view the support for resistance to occupation with support for a proscribed terror organisation,” Mr Chada said.

While some may regard the speeches as “intemperate”, they are made “in the heat of the moment, where strong feelings are involved, while a genocide is going on", he said.

He added that terrorism charges were not used to police other mass protests in the UK, including those organised by Xtinction Rebellion, where more than 3,000 people were arrested over four years.

Mr Chada represented the Stansted 15, activist accused of terrorism after locking arms around a UK Home Office-chartered plane set to deport 60 migrants to West Africa, to prevent it from taking off. Their convictions were overturned in 2021. “In relation to the individual, it has profound effects on their liberty, their career prospects, their ability to travel,” Mr Chada said.

But it can also deter people from speaking out in support of Palestine or attending rallies, for fear they could be charged with terrorism offences. “It’s a troubling attack on our freedom of speech,” he warned.