Independent journalist Richard Medhurst was arrested by British police under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act
Just for clarity he's an independent journalist not a journalist for the independent newspaper.
He's just some rag who posts a lot on his blog. He's not exactly mainstream. Which is presumably why there isn't a lot of news about this.
He also regularly writes for and appears on Al Mayadeen (Hezbollah affiliates), the Iranian Regime's Press TV, and Russia Today.
And yes, you would be correct if you guessed his views on Syria's Bashar al-Assad based on this information.
Good, for months now he's openly expressed his support and encouragement for a proscribed terrorist organisation, i.e. Hamas. He's not ambiguous about this: he thinks October 7th was great and that Hamas should do it again. He literally travelled to Iran and posted photos next to IRGC rockets and missiles with the caption "Long live the resistance".
He's not a journalist. He's a vicious antisemite who takes pleasure in attacking Jews and is a proud and unrepentant promoter and supporter of terrorism.
Throw away the key. I don't know why he's allowed into the country at all.
What did he actually say? Plenty of high-profile people have denounced what's happening in Gaza. Either he said something 'extra' or he's been singled out for some reason...
He claims he's the first person to be arrested under this law, that was introduced in 2000, so he must have said something pretty "extra" if what he claims is true.
The Canary has some details:
posted a video on social media explaining the situation. He said that on Thursday 15 August he was escorted off a plane by six cops. They explained that he was being arrested under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 – for, quote:
expressing an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation
Presumably, in Medhurst’s case this is either Hamas or Hezbollah.
They also explain that he's not the first "journalist" to be arrested under this law.
He says he was arrested under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 which makes it illegal to stay anything even remotely non critical about a "proscribed organisation" like Hamas. It is extraordinarily repressive.
To clarify this is part of what section 12 says:
Proscription makes it a criminal offence to: express an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation, reckless as to whether a person to whom the expression is directed will be encouraged to support a proscribed organisation.
I don't have a problem with any element of that law.
I'm profoundly comfortable with people being arrested and imprisoned for substantial sentences for expressing support for Hamas and similar Jihadi terror groups.
Only a handful of countries consider Hamas a terror group. Funnily enough these are the same countries that are complicit in Israel's genocide in Gaza.
This is a "leopards ate my face" law. It's fine until you get caught up in it however unlikely that appears now.
Only a handful of countries consider Hamas a terror group. Funnily enough these are the same countries that are complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Those are also more or less the only countries I'd trust to be able to correctly identify a terrorist group.
This is a “leopards ate my face” law. It’s fine until you get caught up in it however unlikely that appears now.
I simply don't support terrorist organisations. It isn't difficult.
Hamas being designated a terrorist group arose because of US and Israeli pressure to de-legitimise any entity that represents Palestinians in the same way that the PLO was regarded as a terror group pre Oslo.
It is political repression and nothing more.
Many of these same countries branded Nelson Mandela and the ANC as a terror group.
The PLO was a terror group.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_massacre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma'alot_massacre
Two examples off the top of my head of a terrorist group engaging in terrorist violence.
Yes that's my point. They were a terror group and then weren't when the US decided. In the same way that Sudan was a state sponsor of terror until the US decided otherwise.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-55300252
In both cases recognising the occupation of Palestine made them not terrorists.
Also if committing massacres made the PLO a terror group then surely Israel and it's military wing should be a state sponsor of terror many times over since October 7th but instead it receives billions in funding and weapons from the US and UK
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flour_massacre
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuseirat_refugee_camp_massacre
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/04/1148876
As I said it is a form of political repression.
Also if committing massacres made the PLO a terror group
No, it's when you commit terrorist acts that you become a terrorist group. Like the PLO did, repeatedly, over many many years, and bragged about.
Terrorists are by definition non-state actors.
And yes I've seen the Pallywood stuff coming out of Gaza just like everyone else has. It's the same bullshit they pull every time they cross a line and find their shit getting pushed in by Israel like in Lebanon in 1982.
receives billions in funding and weapons from the US and UK
In 2023 total UK arms exports to Israel totalled £18.2 million. We do not provide them with foreign financial assistance.
So you were only off by a little bit.
In 2023 Israel received approx. £3.3 bn in foreign assistance from the USA, the large majority loaned to purchase US supplies of both defensive and offensive munitions. That same year, Egypt also received about £1.5 bn in foreign assistance from the USA, Jordan £1.7 bn, etc.
As I said it is a form of political repression.
Yes, that's why it's good
And yes I've seen the Pallywood stuff coming out of Gaza just like everyone else has.>
You're a genocide denier. I'm done with you
Yes, in the same sense that I deny the existence of unicorns. I'm also a unicorn-denier.
You say only a handful of countries and then you list a shit ton of countries. Made to look smaller by lumping all of the EU into one country.
How many members are in the EU again?
There are 195 countries in the world.
He's said a lot since October 7th and before it.
A selection of more recent ones by running a search for his tweets using the word 'Hamas'
https://x.com/richimedhurst/status/1802965814053670956
Hamas' Qassam Brigades are guerilla fighters engaged in armed struggle against an occupying power, which is their right under international law.
https://x.com/richimedhurst/status/1795133769172623378
The only men on this planet willing to do something about children being murdered in Gaza are to be found in Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Resistance Axis. So obviously the Western Zionist media have no answer but to frame these Resistance fighters as "terrorists"
https://x.com/richimedhurst/status/1794489366276194554
Hamas have just captured a group of Israeli soldiers
LOL
https://x.com/richimedhurst/status/1792472920029012293
Iran’s president and foreign minister have died.
If it is an act of God, there is naught we can say. If it was an act of treachery, this will not deter or hinder the Resistance.
Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah have always become stronger after losses like this.
The struggle continues.
https://x.com/richimedhurst/status/1785809457194188820
Why do you denounce Hamas and Hezbollah?
Do you also denounce the French resistance when you condemn the Nazis?
I'm so bored of Westerners comparing the only armed front that Palestinians/Arabs have to their oppressors, and acting like this is some kind of nuanced comment
https://x.com/richimedhurst/status/1781613656238620939
They hate Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc. because they fight back. Because they refuse to roll over when the Israelis and Americans snap their fingers.
That is the only reason, and nothing else.
This is political persecution of journalists who are asking the wrong questions.
It is incredible how repressive the West is towards anyone who challenges Israel's Holocaust in Gaza.
Yeah but he broke the law. He was arrested because he broke the law, not for some political reason.
Why would he be arrested for some political reason when he's been left alone all this time? The war started 2 years ago so if they wanted to arrest him on trumped up charges they've had plenty of time to do so.
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