‘Prevent’: Tackling extremism or criminalising dissent?

Contact your MP now and take your concerns about Palestine directly to Parliament. In under two weeks we will be knocking at Westminster’s door to inform, educate and pressure our representatives to take action. This is the first lobby for Palestine that has taken place in this new parliament, so its very important that we are strong in our numbers and strong in our message.

So far, an amazing 1,250 emails have been sent to MPs, and 235 of those are from constituents asking to meet with their MP on the day. Once again, thank you to all those who have contacted their MPs so far. Getting in touch with them is easy:

• Can you be there on the 23rd? If so, please send this letter which asks your MP to meet you.
• Are you unable to attend? It is still really important to send this letter to your MP which requests that they meet campaigners on the day.

Speaking out for justice and human rights: challenging the government’s Prevent strategy and the Counter-terrorism and Security Act. 7pm, Thursday 25th June Amnesty Human Rights Action Centre, London, EC2A 3EA Prevent was introduced as part of the government’s post-9/11 counter-terrorism strategy. Instead of being an effective way of genuinely countering extremism, it is rightly perceived as what Baroness Warsi called a “Cold War against British Muslims.” Now it has been given added legitimacy as part of the Counter-terrorism and Security Act (CTS), passed in 2015. Now CTS is being used to criminalise legitimate dissent. Under the new government this is only going to get worse. Only a few days after the election, David Cameron announced even more sinister powers under a new Extremism Bill – a taste of what’s to come if we don’t challenge this legislation. This public meeting will bring together a broad range of speakers from different sectors – journalism, politics, arts, education, health. It will be the start of a process of coalition-building across organisations and sectors to engage people in this issue and start challenging the new and serious threats we face. Speakers include:Peter Oborne, Associate Editor of the Spectator, Sally Hunt, General Secretary of UCU, Karma Nabulsi, Professor at Oxford University Find out more on the PSC events page>.

The pressure on global security firm, G4S, was ratcheted up this week when the company was found to be violating its human rights obligations under OECD guidelines. The finding, by a UK watchdog which monitors multinational companies, came in response to a complaint submitted by Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR). G4S responded by putting out a media release claiming the company had been cleared of all wrongdoing, a claim easily refuted by LPHR. It all adds up to a week of extreme pressure for G4S, whose annual general meeting on 4^th June was taken over by campaigners for Palestine, including PSC staff and executive members.