Friends concerned over arrest of ‘pro-Palestinian’ journalist
Clun Valley Meeting has adopted a concern
Clun Valley Meeting has adopted a concern about the arrest of a ‘pro-Palestinian’ activist and journalist known to local Friends. Sarah Wilkinson, a longtime campaigner for Gaza, was arrested on 29 August, allegedly for her online content.
Jan Arriens, assistant clerk of Clun Valley Meeting, told the Friend that the incident had ‘troubled us greatly’ and ‘ties in with the present activities by BYM to counter the growing sense of repression in relation to the right of protest and freedom of expression’.
According to Clun Valley’s minute: ‘As far as we understand it, Sarah’s main activities in relation to Palestine have been to relay information coming out of Gaza and involvement in charitable work to construct wells for drinking water in Gaza. This has entailed working with Palestinians on the ground.’
‘A number of highly disquieting features of the arrest emerge from an online [YouTube] interview Sarah managed to give after the event,’ the minute goes on. ‘These include heavy-handed treatment, excessive tightening of handcuffs, cutting off the blood supply to her hands, denial of access to essential Crohn’s disease medication, deprivation of her phone and electronic devices, and the scattering of her mother’s ashes in the loft after the urn had been overturned.’
The minute also notes an ‘atmosphere of intimidation… heightened by the wearing of balaclavas by the squad’. The journey to Shrewsbury police station took two hours instead of forty minutes ‘after the squad inexplicably took off in the wrong direction’. It also says Sarah Wilkinson was arrested by a counter-terrorism squad.
The news about Sarah Wilkinson’s arrest was reported in several media outlets. According to Jewish News: ‘Wilkinson had previously praised the 7 October Hamas attacks in Israel as an “incredible infiltration”.’ The journalist has insisted that a series of subsequent posts doubting the extent of the Nazi Holocaust were not written by her.
Two members of Clun Valley Meeting have spoken with Sarah Wilkinson in her home. ‘As a result of our individual representations, the local MP, Stuart Anderson, has referred the case to the Home Office as a formal MP enquiry,’ adds Clun Valley Meeting’s minute. Individual Quakers have also contacted: the police and crime commissioner for West Mercia; Netpol; the Shropshire Star; The Guardian; and Jeremy Corbyn MP. The Meeting has also agreed to express its concern to the police and crime commissioner.
Comments
I agree with Clun Valley Quaker Meeting entirely in giving expression to their concerns about the treatment of this journalist. I also agree that it raises questions that go beyond this one case about the kind of democracy we live in when someone can be treated this way. We should all be aware of this and consider what stand we must take as Meetings, as a Yearly Meeting and as individuals. We should not be willing to allow a slide into a police state without being heard.
By MartinaLiz on 20th September 2024 - 14:04
Thank you so much for raising this concern and standing in solidarity with Sarah Wilkinson.
By Nicola Grove on 20th September 2024 - 16:57
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