Police accused of censorship after pictures are removed

MARTIN WILLIAMS

the killing of a disarmed Palestinian Abed al Fatah a-Sharif – who was shot and incapacitated during a stabbing attack on an Israeli soldier at the West Bank city of Hebron last year. The soldier was convicted of manslaughter earlier this year.

A photograph, taken by Associated Press of an explosion in Gaza City, in 2014 was also removed.

Phil Chetwynd, secretary of NPP, said the police ordered the removal of the photographs on Tuesday after a member of the public took exception to some of them, accusing church staff of “racism and anti-Semitism”.

In his complaint, Mr Chetwynd said: “Many people may feel offended by a wide range of things in our country, but freedom of expression must be preserved at all cost in any democracy.

“In this instance, it seems an emotional and vociferous complainant forced the two officers to attempt to defuse a situation by completely acceding her demands, thereby ignoring the higher principle of freedom of expression.

“I would therefore be grateful if you would investigate this incident, and clarify if Police Scotland considers itself to have any role in the censorship of artistic expression in Scotland, and if so, under what circumstances they would find it appropriate to exercise this role.”

The exhibition organisers say the display was dedicated to the “many Palestinians who have suffered under the yoke of British and Israeli rule over the past 100 years”.

Of the Balfour declaration, the exhibition says: “On the face of it the declaration seemed fair and even-handed enough, but its implication and manner of execution have echoed down the subsequent century paving the way for the brutality and oppression that pervades the land of Palestine today.”

Exhibition was on fencing outside St John’s Church

This was one of the pictures removed.

An NPP spokesman said: “It is outrageous the police allow themselves to be used in this way to censor an exhibition on the Edinburgh Fringe. Our enquiries suggest the complaint was made against just one picture depicting the murder of a Palestinian man by an Israeli soldier, and yet all the pictures of Israeli actions against Palestinians had to be taken down.

“Members of the public protested at the pictures being taken down, asserting the story contained in the exhibition should

Declaration is named after Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour.

definitely be told in full. We are aware some supporters of the State of Israel cannot bear to hear the Palestinian story being told.

“However, the Scottish police must not allow itself to be manipulated into colluding with this clear infringement on freedom of expression in Scotland.”

Nobody at St John’s Episcopal Church was available for comment.

Police Scotland did not respond to a request for comment.