UK counter-terrorism police questioned teen at airport over Palestine protests

British counter-terrorism police questioned a teenager wearing a Palestine flag at a UK airport asking whether he had attended pro-Palestinian protests, according to a report in openDemocracy on Wednesday. 

The publisher obtained an audio recording of a 17-year-old boy being questioned for forty minutes alongside a family member.

The two were handed flyers which notified them they were obliged to answer questions under the schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act. 

"Just going back to Palestine, have you been to any of the protests that have been taking place?" one officer asks the teenager. 

He was then asked how many protests he had been to, whether they were peaceful and what he did during those protests. 

"There's a lot of wars going on in the world, there's a lot of conflicts and disruption between lots of different countries, I'm just trying to understand why this conflict in particular has triggered you to go to protests?" the officer asks. 

Hundreds of thousands of people in the UK have taken part in peaceful protests against Israeli bombardment of Gaza over the past three months.

'I had a seizure because of the nightmares I had about the police coming onto the plane and arresting me'

- 17-year-old boy detained by British police

More than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war broke out on 7 October. 

The 17-year-old boy, who was anonymised in openDemocracy's report, was later asked if he was part of Whatsapp groups where Palestine is mentioned, and whether he knew others that attended demonstrations.

He was also asked the names of his school and teachers, among other personal details. 

“I’m still shaken,” the boy told openDemocracy.

“I had a seizure because of the nightmares I had about the police coming onto the plane and arresting me. Every time, the nightmare would end with me getting shot in the head by an officer.”

“In our citizenship classes, we were always told about how this country is a democracy,” he said. “I just don’t feel it. They feel like empty ideas, empty slogans.”

Last year, Middle East Eye reported that British medical staff were fearful of expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza due to fears of backlash or being struck off. 

It came as former UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman in November described pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London as “hate marches”, and called on police to investigate whether waving Palestinian flags or pro-Palestinian chants could amount to public order or hate crime offences.

Last month, a student union at one of the UK’s leading universities, Kings College London, suspended its elected student officers after they released a statement expressing their support for Palestine.