IT IS not every day that a grandmother gets arrested for putting a boycott Barclays bank sticker on their ATM machine.

But just about every day a grandmother in Palestine or a member of her family gets killed.

Sue Pentel a long-standing member of Jews for Palestine and pro-Palestine campaigner Martine McCullough were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage Saturday May 24.

This is an indication yet again that there is a policy to come down heavy on those who are protesting against the genocide that Israel is carrying out.

Branches of Barclays have been targeted around the UK by pro-Palestinian groups, who want the bank to stop investing in certain companies. 

The British state, and also other countries, should be coming down heavy on Israel, they should be alongside the protesters who are sick, tired and emotionally drained watching the famine and devastation that the Palestinian people are facing.

On an anniversary of the famine in Ireland, also known as the “Great Hunger,” a person giving a historical lecture said that the difference between the famine in Ireland and the famines in Africa present day is that you can watch this on television.

We can equally say that the difference between the genocide in Europe in the 1940s and in Palestine in the present day is that you can watch this on television.

Anyone who does not feel the horror of what is happening must be inhumane.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has defended its actions after the two women were arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest in Belfast. Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the officers were reacting to an emergency call from a city centre business.

“Their actions were lawful and proportionate to the situation they discovered,” he added.

ACC Henderson said the right to both freedom of speech and assembly are “fundamental human rights.” People were protesting because Palestinians do not have “fundamental human rights.”

Both of the women were released later on Saturday, pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service.

Amnesty International’s Patrick Corrigan criticised the arrests on The Nolan Show. He said peaceful protest is protected by law “even when it disruptive or causes a minor nuisance to people but that is not a reason to criminalise people.

“When you arrest people for a sticker you lose all sense of balance.”

For months now millions of people around the world have protested peacefully against the genocide that Israel is carrying out.

When peaceful protest does not work in so-called democracies, some people turn to more direct and violent action, but you can hardly call putting a sticker on an ATM machine violent action.

Sue Pentel’s solicitor Padraig O Muirigh said she was detained after “peacefully protesting.”

“She has committed no offence and should not be criminalised for exercising her right to peaceful protest against these ongoing atrocities,” he said in a statement.

“Our client will robustly contest any attempt to criminalise her if a decision is made to prosecute. We will also be advising her in relation to the lawfulness of her arrest.”

If is not already happening, the instances of this kind of action by the police, the state and employers should be recorded by a civil rights body.

The “Barclays Two,” Kneecap, three students at Queen’s University, the BBC protest in London, Gary Lineker and the two pro-Palestinian campaigners in the West Belfast supermarket case are just a few examples. And I am sure there are and will be many more.