'Absolutely disgusting': British police arrest elderly man who criticized the Palestinian flags hoisted around his neighborhood

Free speech does not have the same primacy under British law as it does in the United States, particularly for critics of anti-Western causes. One Briton received a harsh reminder of this fact Tuesday, being hauled off by police after daring to criticize the myriad Palestinian flags flown around his neighborhood.

Metropolitan Police have confirmed they arrested a man Tuesday at 9:55 p.m. on "suspicion of a racially aggravated Section 5 public order offence," just days after around 70,000 anti-Israel protesters marched through the streets of London.

A person violates Section 5 of the Public Order Act of 1986 if they employ "threatening or abusive words or behaviour, or disorderly behavior, or ... displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening or abusive within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby."

The same section has been used to penalize critics of LGBT activism.

To be acquitted, the accused must prove that they had no reason to believe a thin-skinned person was within earshot and that his conduct was reasonable.

While normally a Section 5 conviction would land an individual with a fine of roughly $1,212, a racial aggravation enhancement could result in the fine's multiplication by 2.5 times. Should prosecutors successfully conflate criticism of the Palestinian flag with religious hatred, then the accused could face up to seven years in prison.

Metropolitan Police officers apparently attempted to arrest the flag critic earlier but found that he wasn't home. Undeterred, they tried again successfully, then carted him off to an east London police station where he remained until at least noontime Wednesday.

"We take all allegations of hate crime incredibly seriously. Where offences have taken place, our officers are attending, supporting victims and making arrests — and we will continue to do so," the police explained.

In footage of the Tuesday night arrest, a Metropolitan Police officer can be heard referencing a Oct. 17 incident where the arrestee, identified as John, was supposedly seen on Bethnal Green Road in the east end of London questioning why Palestinian migrants critical of the West were being admitted to the United Kingdom.

John appears to have recorded his actual remarks.

"Just come along Bethnal Green Road this morning and this is the kind of s**t that's going on," says John, zooming in on various Palestinian flags on lampposts and out front of storefronts along the street. "Look at that. This is what we're dealing with. ... This is the kind of crap that we're dealing with."

"You let 'em into the country and this is the s**t they come up with," John added.

After the officer noted that these criticisms were at issue, he handcuffed John in front of his distraught wife, reportedly dying of stage-4 cancer.

John's sick wife expressed disbelief that her husband was being arrested over saying "something in the street about Hamas, a terrorist organization."

John was unapologetic during his arrest, reiterating that the flags in his neighborhood were "absolutely disgusting," before being marched outside.

An onlooker said, "This is your freedom," apparently referencing the squad of officers that turned up to arrest the elderly man with kidney disease.

John is evidently not the only person in the United Kingdom to take issue with Palestinian flags in recent weeks.

The Evening Standard reported last week that a Labor councilor in the area had expressed concern about the prevalence of such flags, noting, "If I was from certain communities I might not feel safe."

Even Scotland Yard admitted, "There are some situations where the presence of a flag or banner or the use of specific words or phrases could be seen as intimidation. ... In some circumstances, it could also be seen as intending to cause harassment, alarm or distress."

Transport for London, responsible for Bethnal Green and other roads, ultimately took some flags down, stating, "We are investigating reports of unauthorised flags on the road network in Tower Hamlets and are removing these swiftly where they are found to be attached to TfL infrastructure."

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman recently told top cops in England and Wales that the waving of a Palestinian flag may not be legitimate in certain contexts, "such as when intended to glorify acts of terrorism," reported the Guardian.

Just as Braverman was not arrested for drawing attention to the use of Palestinian flags in celebrations of the Hamas' terror attacks on thousands of Israeli citizens, she was not cited for a Section 5 offense in September for stating that multiculturalism "has failed because it allowed people to come to our society and live parallel lives in it. They could be in the society but not of the society."

"And, in extreme cases," Braverman told an audience in Washington, D.C., balkanized migrant populations "could pursue lives aimed at undermining the stability and threatening the security of society."

"If cultural change is too rapid and too big, then what was already there is diluted," added Braverman. "Eventually it will disappear."

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