Dear Editor,
A group of Guyanese held a protest over the war between Israel and Gaza on the 21st October where they chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” , this identical chant was the reason a pro-Palestinian protest was banned by authorities in Vienna, The head of the city’s police force, Gerhard Puerstl, explained that use of “codes” that can be interpreted as a clear “call to violence” are in contravention of Article 2 of the European convention on Human Rights “fundamentally it is this ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, a PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) slogan that has been adopted by Hamas,” Chief Puerstl further explained that it meant wiping Israel off the map”. The demonstration obviously aims to create a climate in which the violent conflict in this region (the Middle East) is brought onto the streets of Vienna,” Police in the German capital have stopped several similar events in recent weeks, citing the potential of violence and anti-Semitic hate speech.
Editor, the organizers of the October 21st protest have announced another march for the 28th of October, the question is, now that the Commissioner of Police is armed with evidence of the divisive behaviour of the marchers, will he knowingly grant permission for a demonstration that includes this chant that translates into division and hate for Israel? Or will this become another reason to call ‘over’ on Mr. Hicken’s turbid tenure as the top cop?
Sincerely,
Robin Singh
