British Police Question Schoolboy for Wearing Pro-Palestine Badge
Rahmaan Mohammadi's teachers at Challney High School for Boys in Luton referred him to police under Prevent -the controversial government anti-radicalization program,which critics have said is heavy-handed, discriminatory and ineffective.
As well as wearing pro-Palestine badges and wristbands, Mohammadi was in possession of a leaflet advocating Palestinian rights by the Friends of al-Aqsa group. He had also asked for permission to fundraise for children affected by the Israeli occupation.
Friends of al-Aqsa is a non-profit NGO which defends the human rights of Palestinians under the Israeli occupation.
Bedfordshire police visited Mohammadi's home with a folder of information about the schoolboy, and spoke with him and his parents. They concluded that he was not at risk and no further action was taken.
He said that police warned him not to talk about Palestine in school, and that staff members had approached his 14-year-old brother and pressured him to tell Rahmaan to "stop being radical".
Last year, hundreds of academics signed an open letter in the Independent criticizing the "chilling effect" of the Prevent strategy on free speech and political dissent in the UK.
Source: Independent
