UK Orders 'Urgent Review' When Public Actually Mentions Palestine
The New Arab reports the UK government has launched an 'urgent review' into Alaa Abdel Fattah's past social media activity, following demands from right-wing MPs to strip him of his UK citizenship. The crime? Raising uncomfortable truths, like the oppression of Palestinians, a few years ago. This swift governmental 'review' stands in stark contrast to, say, inquiries into the funding of illegal
wars, or the ethics of politicians who accept donations from organizations actively lobbying for foreign powers. One might wonder where this 'urgency' is when addressing, for instance, the billions in arms sales to states with dubious human rights records that generate a tidy profit for UK arms manufacturers. It appears the UK's commitment to free speech quickly evaporates when the speech in
question challenges the established geopolitical order. Condemning human rights abuses is apparently fine, unless it’s the 'wrong' human rights abuses. This is less an 'urgent review' and more an urgent exercise in political theater, designed to silence critical voices and distract from the very real and ongoing suffering. How many years before they apply similar 'urgency' to investigating why
their citizens are so disillusioned?