The silencing

JAVIER GARCIA

The arrest of British journalist Richard Medhurst when getting off a plane in London this August is another sign of the extreme weakness that freedom of expression is experiencing in the West. Fragility that it shares with that of other traditional values ​​of that part of the world that we believed were well established, such as compassion or humanity and that have gone down the drain with the destruction of Gaza. Or they have disappeared at least from the heads and hearts of our politicians.

Medhurst, known for his denunciations of Israel's crimes in Gaza, is the first journalist to whom the section 12 of the UK's draconian anti-terrorism law of 2000.

That law was passed under the Labour government of the ineffable Tony Blair and states that a person can be jailed for up to 14 years for simply “expressing an opinion or belief that supports a proscribed organisation” and in doing so “is reckless as to whether a person to whom the expression is directed will be incited to support a proscribed organisation”.

The journalist himself, who works independently and has more than a million followers on social networks, explained in a video that six police officers were waiting for him at the entrance to the plane upon landing at Heathrow, after which they confiscated his electronic equipment and kept him isolated in a cell for nearly 24 hours without being able to communicate with his family, friends or lawyers, during which he was subjected to an interrogation.

""They accused me of supposedly expressing an opinion or belief that supports a banned organization, but they did not want to explain to me what that meant," he said.

In his case, it seems that his comments defending the right of Palestinians to resist occupation and genocide or denouncing that the US and the United Kingdom are complicit in it, could be considered “support for terrorism.”

Following his arrest, Medhurst was released on pre-indictment bail, and will remain under investigation for at least 3 months. He faces the possibility of being charged with a crime that could mean up to 14 years in prison.

Few days before, The FBI raided and searched Scott Ritter's home, former UN weapons inspector known for his criticism of the Ukrainian war and NATO. His passport had already been confiscated by the State Department in June when he was preparing to attend a conference in Russia. 

Several journalists and anti-war activists have been detained in the United Kingdom in the last year, including the former British ambassador and human rights defender. Craig murray, The Gray Zone journalist Kit Klarenberg or the French editor Ernest Moret.

Demonstrations in favor of Palestine have been banned in several European countries such as Germany and France and the harassment, detention and persecution of those protesting against the genocide in Gaza continue.

Internet giants like Meta silences content about Palestine on Facebook and Instagram  - as reported by several organizations - deleting publications, arbitrarily suspending accounts or limiting their reach.

France Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, has just been arrested, the only encrypted messaging application that until now did not apply censorship, for “complicity” in serious crimes related to what its clients publish on its platform.

A practically unprecedented decision that has triggered the alarms among other technological for fear of being held responsible for the activity of their users.

Chris Pavlovski, founder and president of Rumble - an alternative platform to YouTube that presents itself as “immune to cancel culture” - announced after Durov's arrest that he had left Europe.

""France has threatened Rumble and now they have crossed a red line with the arrest of Pavel Durov, supposedly for not censoring free expression," said the head of Rumble, a site to which millions of users have moved since YouTube began canceling accounts after the start of the Ukrainian war.

Europe, the supposed “garden” of well-being and freedom, seems to be turning into a desert, silent and monolithic place from which people flee.

While Ukraine conflict escalates dangerously and Israel continues to bomb Gaza and prepare - with the help of the United States - a major war in the Middle East With an eye on Lebanon, Iran, Yemen or Syria, silencing any story that falls outside the official narrative is the parallel strategy.

In the throes of this calamitous world order propped up by wars and censorship, supporting independent journalism has become more urgent than ever. At least if we are not willing to survive with the only voice of Big Brother howling in the desert.

Either we stand up to this horrible drift or the silencing will end up devouring us.

Javier García is a journalist. He has been head of correspondents in the Middle and Far East, Latin America, Europe and Africa, as well as a special envoy to different war conflicts. Currently, he is a professor of Journalism at Renmin University in Beijing. His last book is China, threat or hope.