LONDON

Demonstrators staged a rally Thursday in the British capital to show solidarity with a pro-Palestinian protester who is charged with a “racially aggravated public order offence” for carrying a sign.

Black Lives Matter, the National Education Union, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Cage and others gathered outside the Westminster Magistrates Court to show solidarity with Marieha Hussain -- a pregnant mother and teacher, who faces charges for holding a satirical placard during a pro-Palestine protest.

Hussain, 37, joined thousands of protesters in central London last November to demand an end to Israel's war in Gaza.

She carried a sign depicting the faces of then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman, alongside coconuts under a tree on a beach.

Hussain later lost her job.

Asim Qureshi, research director at Cage NGO, told Anadolu that Hussain is being prosecuted for holding a satirical placard, that is satire, which is "a long tradition in this country of political critique using language that is ostensibly used very commonly amongst communities of color."

For Qureshi, the case shows “the heavy hand of the law" and is really about “prosecution of activism" that relates to Palestine.

"This case should have been dropped a long time ago, and it's actually unbelievable that we're here today, right now, in this place," he said, stressing that the placard was about Palestine.

"There is a genocide taking place, and yet we're being distracted by cases like this which should never be before courts in the first place what should be before the court, really, is anyone, any institution, any individual that has any complicity with a genocidal state like Israel," he added.

Claire, a teacher, told Anadolu that she is based in Spain but attended the demonstration to show support.

"I think it's the further silencing of voices that are already marginalized, and it engages so much with notions of who is allowed to speak, and it engages with notions of how much black and brown communities are not allowed to share their stories," she said.

Noting that a similar case happened before, Claire said she thinks it will continue to happen, "especially in these times when we can see the genocide in Palestine and who can speak and who's considered racist or antisemitic, etc."

Claire added: "It's just a continuing policing of black and brown voices, and it's very dangerous."​​​​​​​