British Palestinians feel ‘gaslit’ and unable to speak out, says leading activist | Communities

British Palestinians feel unable to speak openly about Israel’s war in Gaza, amid what campaigners believe is a growing climate of hostility around Palestinian identity and activism in the UK, the director of the British Palestine Committee has said.

Sara Husseini said some are afraid to wear Palestinian symbols at work or display Arabic jewelry and keffiyehs in public.

“We have many documented reports of Palestinians and their allies being silenced or punished for wearing Palestinian symbols, watermelon pins, or speaking about genocide,” he said. “Many colleagues across all industries feel gaslighted while their friends and family are being slaughtered back home.”

Speaking in London on Saturday ahead of a national march to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the Nakba (“catastrophe”), which meant the displacement of at least 700,000 Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948, Husseini said many Palestinians felt they were being treated not as victims of mass suffering but as suspects whose suffering had been politicized.

“Persecution is the word I would use, especially for my colleagues who come from Gaza or have family there, who know that this persecution is inflicted on their loved ones every day,” Husseini said.

“And then it was said eloquently: We’re not just going to accept that this happened to you, we’re not going to believe you, we’re going to interrogate you, we’re going to stop you from talking about it, and if you do, we’re going to make you out to be the problem.”

Born to a Palestinian father from Jerusalem and a British mother from Leicestershire, Husseini has been involved in Palestine advocacy for decades, including consultancy work for the Palestine Liberation Organization during the years of the failed peace process.

Describing this period as the darkest chapter in Palestinian history since 1948, he said, “The last two and a half years, during which Palestinians watched our families and friends being murdered, starved and tortured, have been a year filled with fear and horror every day.”

But despite his anger at successive British governments, he repeatedly fell back on the solidarity shown by ordinary Britons, describing mass pro-Palestinian marches as a source of emotional survival for many Palestinians.

“We feel great solidarity from the British public,” he said. “What we are seeing are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of conscientious people from all walks of life and walks of life marching, signing petitions, writing to their MPs, and protesting our government’s complicity in Israel’s war crimes.”

A recent Unrwa report stated that 111 Palestinians, including at least 18 children and 7 women, were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in April alone, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed since the start of the war to 72,619. Emergency tents for displaced people are now infested with disease-carrying rodents, causing a rise in skin infections, the UN agency said.

An estimated 700 Palestinians managed to escape from Gaza to the UK. “Palestinians who arrived during this period had to find specialist nutritional support because they were starving and could not get food normally when they first arrived,” Husseini said. “This is trauma, not to mention psychological damage, that will last generations.”

The Nakba march took place at a time of rising tensions over the future of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the UK; Some Jewish groups and politicians have called on ministers and police to impose tighter restrictions on marches.

Husseini rejected the description of the protests as “hate marches”, saying: “In fact, it is the opposite: a protest against the most hateful acts possible: war and genocide.”

Husseini said he attended the protests with his two young children. “We are marching with people of all faiths and communities, including 13 organized Jewish blocs. These are all conscientious Britons protesting the killing of children, the bombing of a captive population, the forced starvation of people,” he said.

“I think the answer to why these are being misrepresented as blatant hate marches is to undermine the hundreds and thousands of people who are taking to the streets. It’s to distract from the government’s complicity in these crimes.”

While Britain officially recognized the state of Palestine last year, some Palestinians hoped that Keir Starmer’s government would take a firmer stance in defending Palestinian rights.

Husseini said interaction with Palestinians in Britain often amounted to little more than “photo opportunities”. He noted Starmer’s visit to the Cardiff mosque shortly after his “unacceptable” visit. 2023 LBC interviewHe appeared to defend Israel’s right to deny electricity and water to Gaza.

“This is part of a broader culture wars mentality of fueling social tensions and framing it as Muslims versus Jews,” he said. “This framing is not accurate.”

Husseini said he was not surprised by comments in the mainstream British media portraying Palestinian identity as suspect or extremist. “This is part of a broader attempt to erase and invisibilize Palestinians,” he said. “It goes hand in hand with attempts to dehumanize Palestinians, and dehumanization is a prerequisite for genocide.”

Still, he said he remained hopeful, linking his people’s struggle to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. “Our freedom is ultimately inevitable.”