Dangerous times for democracy

Sir, – This past weekend heavy rain and strong winds in Gaza flooded 70,000 tents, killed four children and left 400,000 more displaced Palestinians vulnerable to the same fate.

These families have suffered three years of genocide, starvation, disease and lack of sanitation and are forced to live in just 30 per cent of their own territory. This humanitarian disaster is the result of Israel’s refusal to admit the aid, shelter supplies and reconstruction materials needed by 1.4 million Gazans living in tents or makeshift shelters.

The arrest of 4,000 Palestine Action activists under terrorism legislation, including 28 Irish people, who want to end British government complicity in Israel’s genocide and end the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, highlights the absurdity of criminalising peaceful protest (“Britain’s terror arrests: Irish people make up the largest number of foreign suspects”, November 9th). The typical Palestine Action “terror suspect” is now a white woman in her 50s.

These are dangerous times for democracy when concerned citizens are arrested for opposing war crimes and complicit governments are silently abandoning Palestinians to Israel’s theatre of cruelty in Gaza. – Yours, etc,

STEPHEN MCCLOSKEY,

Director,

Centre for Global Education,

Belfast.