Your say / Palestine
‘Pro-Palestinian supporters make Bristol intimidating for people who disagree with them’
News regarding pro-Palestinian protests in Bristol has been widely reported across the UK.
As a Jew, I wanted to share my views on these events as Bristol has a very small Jewish population – only 0.3 per cent according to the 2021 census – and so somebody reading this may not have ever met a Jew or an Israeli.
It’s important to note that over half the world’s Jewish population lives in Israel, and its role in Judaism is paramount.
For nearly 2,000 years, Jews have prayed towards Jerusalem three times a day. This is why many Jews, including myself, feel deeply attached to Israel.
I find the protesters’ strength of feeling towards the Palestinian cause disturbing. As Bristol24/7 readers will be aware, dozens of people have been arrested in two protests in the city centre for holding up signs supporting Palestine Action.
Palestine Action is an organisation whose alleged members at an ongoing court case have been accused of breaking into Elbit Systems, the Israeli defence company, and accused of striking a police officer with a sledgehammer.
(Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, are jointly accused of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder. They deny all charges and Corner denies an additional allegation of causing grievous bodily harm.)
The violent nature of what allegedly happened at Elbit Systems and the fact that people are prepared to be arrested for this cause make pro-Palestinian supporters, of any stripe, intimidating for anyone who disagrees with their viewpoint.
Peaceful protesters have been arrested during two protests on College Green in 2025 for holding signs supporting Palestine Action – photo Rob Browne
At the recent Bristol Palestine Film Festival, there seemed to be an overriding narrative as portraying Israel as the bad guy.
It is important, however, to hear other points of view.
Accusations of ‘apartheid’, ‘white colonialism’ and ‘genocide’ are thrown around these days as if they are fact.
But they simply aren’t true. There is no apartheid in Israel. Arabs and Jews work side by side and both have the right to vote. There is necessary security at borders but that doesn’t equate to apartheid.
Israel isn’t a white colonial state – indeed around half of its Jewish population descend from the Middle East, and Asia and Africa.
It is also true that Jews have lived continuously in Israel for thousands of years.
As for the accusations of genocide – during the war Israel allowed aid agencies to enter Gaza to give children polio inoculations. This is just one fact that illustrates the baselessness of this claim.
It does not seem logical that so many people are concerned about the Hamas-Israel war compared to all other conflicts in the world.
Given the nature of the pro-Palestinian movement in Bristol, I would think twice about visiting this great city as I would feel nervous if I encountered too many Palestinian flags.
I just ask you to become more informed about this issue and listen to other voices apart from the one-sided narrative that pro-Palestinians promote.
This is an opinion piece by Sharon Ross, a writer and a committed Jew
Main photo: Martin Booth
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