Yesterday my good friend @nickbilbrough got arrested in London, along with 857 other people in London. They were arrested for showing support for Palestine Action - a protest group which has recently been banned in the UK. Nick is the founder of the @HandsUpProject - a hugely impactful charity working to support young people in Palestine. 🇵🇸 "The Hands Up Project is a charity trust which, through its network of volunteers, connects children around the world with young people in Palestine. By means of online interaction, drama and storytelling activities, it enables the use of creativity and self-expression to promote mutual understanding, personal growth, and the development of English language skills." - handsupproject.org/ Here is what Nick wrote last night after being released on bail following his arrest. "Thanks to everyone for so many beautiful messages of support from around the world, after our arrests yesterday under section 13 of the terrorism act. I was released on bail at 3 am this morning, until the end of November. Honoured to be arrested alongside so many friends and comrades from Totnes Friends of Palestine, Hastings and Rye Palestine Solidarity Campaign, The Hands Up Project and the one and only father Jim from St Mary's Church Totnes. Special thanks to Jo Raeburn and everyone from Totnes, London and Ilford for so much tender support at all hours. What an absolute total waste of police time, energy and tax payers money this whole ridiculous situation is. There was some police brutality, but for the most part I sensed a lot of confusion and uncomfortableness about what they were being ordered to do. Was there ever a more unlikely group (not sure of the collective noun!) of 'terrorists' as the 857 of us who were arrested yesterday? My arresting officer was called Andrew and he was very calm and softly spoken throughout the four hours we spent together. I told him all about The Hands Up Project and read him a few poems from our books. He told me that he wasn't normally asked to do these kinds of things and that was usually involved in solving crimes. I asked him what drew him to the Police Force in the first place and he said fighting for the rights of the victims of crime. But when I asked him who was the victim in the 'crime' for which we were being arrested, he didn't have an answer. That's because there is no answer, or rather none except 'the UK government', 'the Israeli government', 'companies complicit in the genocide' or 'the arms trade' - and no one in their right mind would think of these bodies as a legitimate victim of crime. As I sat in my cell in Ilford police station I thought about the real victims of the crime of genocide. I whistled 'Oh my home' as loud as I could and I thought about all the Gazan children that I've heard singing this song over the years - so many of whom have now been killed. Then the police brought me a microwaved portion of chicken tikka masala in a cardboard carton and I used the lid to rip out the letters of Fatema's name. Fatema was the first of our Hands Up Project children from Gaza to be killed - on October 18th 2023, with her entire family. If you joined the police force to stand up for the victims of crime, make sure you know who the real victims are. If you're not sure, ask the people of the world. They will tell you." - Nick Bilbrough - facebook.com/share/p/1JCdhE5… Here is a Guardian newspaper article about yesterday's arrests: theguardian.com/uk-news/2025…