Glorify Hamas and you break law, says UK terror watchdog

Speeches at pro-Palestinian rallies in the UK might have glorified terrorism, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism says.

It comes as Home Secretary Suella Braverman says "the full force of the law" should be used against support for Hamas, a proscribed terrorist group.

The BBC showed Jonathan Hall KC footage from speeches collected by BBC Verify.

Mr Hall said that several appeared in breach of terrorism legislation and police should have taken action.

Mr Hall, whose role allows him to regularly report on how Britain's terrorism legislation is working, said: "If you take what happened in the Be'eri kibbutz, where babies were massacred, that is unambiguously an act of terrorism," he said.

"People need to know, if you glorify that you risk committing a really serious terrorism offence."

His comments came as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was asked if waving Palestinian flags or saying "Free Palestine" in public could constitute a crime.

Mr Sunak told broadcasters: "Inciting violence, racial hatred, is illegal. People who are acting in an abusive or threatening manner causing distress are breaking the law."

He said that police would "make sure anyone who breaks the law meets the full force of that law".

At a pro-Palestinian rally in Manchester on 8 October, a day after Hamas attacked Israel killing hundreds of civilians, a man wearing a red football shirt with "Palestine" written on the back told the crowd: "We have all seen the scenes and it is the most inspiring act of resistance."

The man then praises a UK group called Palestine Action and urges people to boycott "the hell out of Israel".

The BBC has seen several videos of Palestine Action meetings attended by its co-founder, Richard Barnard.

Palestine Action is an organisation that advocates direct action against companies it says supply arms or weapons components to Israel. A number of its activists are due to stand trial on a variety of charges.

In Manchester on 8 October, Mr Barnard said in his speech: "When we hear the resistance, the Al-Aqsa flood, we must turn that flood into a tsunami of the whole world."

The "Al-Aqsa flood" is the Hamas name for its attack on Israel.

At another rally on Wednesday in Bradford, attended by the BBC, Mr Barnard told the crowd that they must break British law to shut down factories that supply the Israeli military.

He said: "When you go home, ask yourself, what can you sacrifice for Palestine? Can you sacrifice? A night in a police station for taking action against Israeli weapons factories. Can you sacrifice days in court?"

More pro-Palestinian rallies are due to take place across the UK on Saturday, including in London, Manchester and Edinburgh, where thousands of people are expected to gather.

More than 1,000 officers will police the demonstration in central London, the Metropolitan Police has said, and the force has warned that anyone showing support for Hamas or deviating from the route, could face arrest.

Mr Hall, who was appointed to his role in 2019, said: "When I hear people referring by name to a Hamas terrorist operation, which we know involved acts of terrorism, and invite people to do something similar, then I know that you're in the territory of encouraging terrorism."

He said Britain's terrorism laws were not designed "to stop people making political speeches... but what they are designed to do is to stop mass murder, massacres, terrorist tactics.

"And that's where the police will be looking, I would have thought - is that person deliberately or recklessly encouraging other people to commit acts of terrorism?"

Mr Barnard defended his speeches and made clear that he was talking about direct action against those British industries that supply Israel's military.

"Nothing has changed by not breaking the law. Mandela in South Africa, Martin Luther King. Yeah. And we're seeing more and more in this country, that people are taking matters into their own hands, that politicians have failed. There is no democratic process for Palestine in this country."

When questioned by the BBC on why he was using the language of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation, he said it was just a metaphor and that he did not regret his language.

"What I regret is the constant bombardment of Gaza that is going on now. It's constant. That's what upsets me. That's what keeps me up at night. But those weapons are made round the corner from us."

Mr Barnard said he was worried about being arrested for his words but that he had been arrested many times before.

The BBC spoke to many people at the rally in Bradford who said they did not support what Hamas did in Israel. Instead, they were worried about what would happen to the Palestinian people.

Hassan, a teenager whose family was originally from the West Bank, said: "I condemn the attacks on civilians. I don't stand for terrorist attacks, but the fact that babies and civilians have been killed on both sides, really shows you the true nature of the war."

The BBC is unaware of any arrests by Greater Manchester Police or West Yorkshire police in connection to the speeches on 8 October.

Bradford Police said that "appropriate policing arrangements were in place" at the rally in the city, "with a view to providing reassurance and minimising disruption to the wider public".

It said the event "passed off largely without incident. A small number of arrests were made for offences such as the illegal discharge of fireworks".  

A 22-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of supporting Hamas after a protest in Brighton on October 8 and remains in police custody.

Laurence Taylor, the Metropolitan Police's deputy assistant commissioner, said: "People do not have the right to incite violence or hatred. The law is clear that support for proscribed organisations is illegal.

"Anyone with a flag in support of Hamas or any other proscribed terrorist organisation will be arrested. "We will not tolerate the celebration of terrorism or death, or tolerate anyone inciting violence."

Mr Hall meanwhile commented on criticism of media organisations, including the BBC, that refrain from directly referring to Hamas as "terrorist".

He said that "broadcasters here have a responsibility, if an act of terrorism is committed, to say it as such".

The BBC said: "We always take our use of language very seriously. Anyone watching or listening to our coverage will hear the word 'terrorist' used many times - we attribute it to those who are using it, for example, the UK government."

Sky News and ITV News told the BBC that they take decisions about language on a case-by-case basis. Stories on their websites mainly refer to Hamas militants or fighters, although both have described them as terrorists on occasion.