the power of social media has changed the art of the political protest and this is why

Historic protests have gone further than Palestine Action – would they be allowed under today’s laws? (Picture: Getty)

The world looks back on the actions of suffragettes,civil rights leaders and other protesters as a necessary good – even when the actions they took for change were illegal at the time.

But the mainly peaceful actions taken by those who support Palestine Action,a group formed in 2020 to ‘end Israeli apartheid’ in Gaza,have been met with mass arrests after it was deemed a proscribed terror group in the UK.

Hundreds of demonstrators recently sat down quietly in Parliament Square,holding placards reading: ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine action.’

Charlie Kimber,68,was arrested in this protest and charged under section 13 of the Terrorism Act.

He has been attending protests since the 1970s and says that policing of even peaceful protests has worsened in his lifetime.

He told Metro: ‘Suffragettes would be locked up,and women who got into the base where nuclear weapons were and smothered them with porridge,that wouldn’t be tolerated now,’ he explained.

‘Why? There’s a greater fear because of social media and the power it has in telegraphing that message. People are now being imprisoned just for talking about a protest.’

New policing bill – an attack on our rights?

The new policing bill,which aims to tackle anti-social behaviour and ‘improve police ability to manage protests’,has been slammed as an attack on rights.

Under that bill,historic protests including Pride,Black Lives Matter,demonstrations in Parliament Square,and peace vigils wouldn’t be permitted.

‘We have to realise that people trying to do the right things should be respected and not vilified’ (Picture: Reuters)

Mark adds: ‘I think in time people will begin to see who’s pulling the strings. And that’s what undoes things.

‘In the Soviet Union,there was a very telling quote that was used when someone asked a diplomat about something: ‘History is uncertain.’

‘But sooner or later,these things work themselves through the system and begin to see things through a different prism. Truth is a great disinfectant.’

As for the current protests,he said: ‘We have to be more human. We have to realise that people trying to do the right things should be respected and not vilified.’