Manchester, UK. 11th December 2004. The Manchester Palestine Forum attempts to carry out a peaceful street theatre presentation in Piccadilly Gardens (a large square in the city centre) to draw attention to the oppression of Palestinians by the Israeli government. The intention is to carry out a peformance of a "die-in" complete with specially constructed props--including a six foot long Israeli "tank". The "tank" comes with built-in sound effects: engine noise, a siren, the sound of machine gun fire. The police, however, inform the organisers that the performance of the "die-in" is not allowed to proceed. This is despite the fact that the very same "die-in" has been been performed several times before in central Manchester in the past year--using exactly the same props.
And see also these clips of exactly the same "die-in" on 28th March 2003 in the same location which caused absolutely no "disturbance of the peace" or public order problems. In fact the police, who could see that the street theatre was happening on CCTV cameras in the square, did not even feel the need to be present.
It seems that the use of creative methods of political expression are now banned in Manchester. Street theatre requires a good deal of time, preparation and organisation. As soon as the police saw the disassembled "tank" props on the floor about to be assembled, they refused to allow the performance to go ahead--with no attempt at explanation or justification for this ban.
Having been prevented from presenting the street theatre, the performers then attempt to sing alternative Christmas carols with "updated" lyrics reflecting the reality of the Holy Land today. The lyrics are written by Jews opposed to Sharon's brutal regime. The alternative carols are composed as a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinians. There are also several Jews active in the street theatre and carol singing group and the Palestine Forum. Several musicians accompany the singers on acoustic musical instruments.
A public address (PA) system is organised to enable the music to be heard over the traffic noise. The police initially inform the organisers that the PA system may not be utilised because it supposedly "disrupts the peace", despite the fact that PAs have been used many times by the anti-war movement in the same location over the past year (and despite the fact that other street performers were using PAs in other parts of the city centre that day).
See for example this anti-war rally in the same city square a few weeks earlier on 6th November 2004:
After a lengthy delay, during which the police consult their superiors, they eventually deign to allow the PA to be used for musical purposes, but only as long as there are "no speeches"! This ludicrous distinction is arbitrary and nonsensical. What price freedom of expression in today's Britain? This is the reality of Manchester, UK today.
Could it perhaps be that it is the very fact that the Manchester Palestine Forum has used creative, visual methods on the street, and on the Internet, to get its message across that has prompted the local Zionist fanatics to bring pressure to bear on the city council and police to ban its activities?
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