Catholic priest reports on his arrest in defence of Palestine Action

Fr John with his simple message

Carmelite priest Fr John McGowan from St Joseph's Parish, Chalfont St Peter, Gerrards Cross, writes:

I set out from my parish determined to get arrested at the demonstration in Parliament Square. I was nervous, with butterflies in my stomach, but I knew i would do it.

What made me this way was what was happening in Gaza and the West Bank. I had lived in Jerusalem for almost five years and had come to love the country, and its people, both Jews and Palestinians.

I was upset that our government is not doing enough to stop the massacre of the people in Gaza: 60,000 dead one third of whom were children.

The last straw was when the Home Secretary called 'Palestine Action' a terrorist group. I could not understand why.

I do not believe that this group are terrorists.

In Parliament Square there is a statue of Millicent Fawcett, the leader of the Suffragettes, who did far more damage to property than Palestine Action, for the cause of women's rights. There is also a statue of Nelson Mandela who also committed material damage to draw attention to the immorality of the Apartheid Regime. I remember in the mid-1990's when Britain was sending fighter jets to Indonesia, for them to go on a bomb East Timor; a Christian country. People broke into British Aerospace in Warton, Lancashire, but they weren't called terrorists.

I took with me a piece of paper on which I had written: "I support Palestine Action".

I arrived at Parliament Square and showed my piece of paper, expecting the police to jump on me. I had never seen so many police at a demonstration. But there were so many people there holding up similar messages that I had the chance to look around.

One man asked me "where is the Church? Where are the Church leaders? Why aren't they saying anything?" I had no answer, except to say I was representing the Church. At the same time another man told me I shouldn't mix politics with religion. Others, more sympathetic wanted a photo and told me they were proud of me. I almost wept. Most who got arrested were carried to a police van with a crowd of supporters shouting "shame! shame! at the police. I didn't want to make a scene.

I realised that the police were only doing their job, and couldn't forget my brother was a policeman. In the end I quietly asked a policeman to arrest me, which he duly did. I was taken to a police van, where I was searched and everything in my pockets was put into a bag, even my watch was taken. By this time a crowd of people had gathered around me, all filming this with their mobile phones.

God knows what the people on the tourist bus thought as they passed by. As we left the Square people gathered around the van an applauded, some banged on the windows, others gave the heart gesture with their fingers. I had been arrested for the first time in my life yet I felt calm, even serene.

I was taken away with two others to a place off Whitehall where we were processed. It took four hours. The police were polite. They even brought us water. I was proud of all the people I saw there, people of all ages and backgrounds, some you would expect to see others not.

In the end I saw one female wearing a roman collar; she was a Baptist minister.

I was charged under section 13 of the Terrorism Act and given what is called "street bail".

I am due to appear at Poplar Police Station in late September when I shall have to wait to see what they will decide to do. I am prepared for anything, even going to prison. As soon as I could I contacted a friend in the West Bank who is helping Palestinians; I felt I could now look him in the eye. I have no regrets about what I did. My conscience is clear. Indeed, when I told the people at Mass the following day what I had done, they applauded me. It wasn't easy to do this, but I am happy I did.

LINK

St Joseph's parish: www.stjosephs.org.uk/