Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Russian Ministry of Defense: 37 Ukrainian drones destroyed in 4 hours over regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
Sheikh Qassem: Our supporters make up more than half of Lebanon's population, and all of these people are united under the banner of protecting Lebanon, its Resistance, its people, and its integrity.
Sheikh Qassem: There will be no phased handing in of our arms. [The Israelis] must first enact the agreement before we start talking about a defensive strategy.
Sheikh Qassem: Be brave in the face of foreign pressures, and we will be by your side in this stance.
Sheikh Qassem: Stripping us of our arms is like stripping us of our very soul, and this will prompt us to show them our might.
Sheikh Qassem: We will not abandon our arms, for they gave us dignity; we will not abandon our arms, for they protect us against our enemy.
Sheikh Qassem: The US efforts we are seeing are aimed at sabotaging Lebanon and constitute a call for sedition.
Sheikh Qassem: If you truly want to establish sovereignty and work for Lebanon’s interests, then stop the aggression.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States, which is meddling in Lebanon, is not trustworthy but rather poses a danger to it.
Sheikh Qassem: The United States is preventing the weapons that protect the homeland.

Palestinian student stripped of visa for Gaza speech wins appeal vs UK

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 1 Nov 2024 08:44
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

A tribunal ruling has found that the student's remarks match views expressed by human rights organizations, concluding that the UK Home Office's allegations were not adequate.

Listen
  • x
  • Palestinian student Dana Abu Qamar in an undated photograph (X/QudsNen)
    Palestinian student Dana Abu Qamar in an undated photograph (X/QudsNen)

Palestinian student Dana Abu Qamar has won a human rights appeal, revoking the UK Home Office's decision to strip her of her visa for speaking about Gaza and its resistance. 

The Guardian reported that the Home Office claimed that Dana's presence was "not conducive to public good" but subsequently failed to prove it after her visa was revoked in December 2023.

Dana first caught the attention of authorities during a protest organized at the University of Manchester, where she also leads the Friends of Palestine Society. While speaking to Sky News, Dana explored Gaza's historical resistance against the Israeli "oppressive regime", as well as the 16-year-long blockade the occupation has imposed, calling the Strip's Resistance "a once in a lifetime experience." 

"And everyone is, we are both in fear, but also in fear of what, how Israel will retaliate and how we’ve seen it retaliate overnight, and the missiles that it’s launched and the attacks, but also we are full of pride. We are really, really full of joy of what happened," she also said. 

The decision to revoke her visa followed intervention by former immigration minister and Conservative leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick.

Case rulings

The tribunal handling the case found that the Home Office's decision was a "disproportionate interference with her protected right to free speech" under the European Convention on Human Rights and affirmed that her statements could not be linked to support of Hamas, after Abu Qamar explained that she had been misinterpreted, asserting she was supporting Gaza's Resistance against the occupation.

Related News

UK Home Office abandons potentially trafficked children: The Guardian

Over 360 unaccompanied children held in France-UK border facilities

Additionally, the tribunal found that she was not an extremist and that her description of the Israeli occupation as an "apartheid state" was consistent with several human rights organizations. Using statements such as "actively resisting" and "broke free" during her speech was also related to the lawful acts of Resistance in Gaza. 

According to Abu Qamar, the ruling set an important precedent that validates the right "to voice support for human rights for the plight of Palestinians and the right to resist occupation."

She also expressed her shock at Jenrick's intervention, suggesting it highlights a broader issue with a politicized approach to immigration and security decisions. 

Regarding the government's crackdown, she described it as "so brutal", saying it felt like she was losing everything in a single second for defending her people's right to resist. 

Precedent in Germany

A similar incident was recorded in Germany, when a Berlin court convicted pro-Palestine activist Ava Moayeri, a 22-year-old German-Iranian national, for the "crime" of leading the chant "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," back in October. 

The presiding judge, Birgit Balzer, ordered Moayeri to pay a 600 euro fine. While the 22-year-old's defense team argued that the conviction was a violation of free speech, the judge rejected Ava's argument, exhibited by chants of expression against injustice in Gaza and for peace in the Middle East.

Balzer argued that precedents documented in different courts that describe the slogan as "ambiguous" were incomprehensible, considering the chant a declaration against the "right of the State of Israel to exist."

Balzer said the chant was particularly problematic and controversial in Germany, which considers support for the Israeli occupation a matter of "Staatsräson", or reason of state, as the nation bears responsibility and guilt for the Holocaust. 

Moayeri’s legal team defended the slogan as part of the Palestine solidarity movement and denied any antisemitism.

  • Home Office
  • war on Gaza
  • crackdown on Palestinians
  • Israel
  • Israeli occupation
  • United Kingdom
  • Gaza
  • pro-Palestine demonstrators
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Tom Artiom Alexandrovich, executive director of the defense division of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate, undated (Social media)

Israeli-born US prosecutor drops Israeli officer child sex crime

  • Politics
  • 19 Aug 2025
Almost instantly after the Helsinki Accords were signed, organisations sprouted to document purported violations, whose findings were fed to overseas embassies for international amplification. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

How ‘Human Rights’ became a Western weapon

  • Opinion
  • 23 Aug 2025
Israeli soldiers stand on the top of armoured vehicles parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 (AP)

Palestinian fighters target Israeli soldiers, vehicles in Gaza

  • Politics
  • 21 Aug 2025
Launch of a ballistic missile from Yemen toward the occupied Palestinian territories. (YAF military media)

Yemeni Forces announce firing hypersonic missile at Al-Lydd Airport

  • Politics
  • 22 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime minister's office in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu deliberately derailing truce with Gaza occupation: Hamas

Irish President Michael Higgins arrives to deliver his speech during a 42nd World Food Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, on Oct. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Politics

Irish president renews call for UN military intervention in Gaza

US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at the US Embassy in Aukar, northern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, July 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US envoy, Netanyahu discuss restraining attacks on Lebanon, withdrawal

Smoke billows following Israeli airstrikes in multiple areas in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ansar Allah vow sustained Gaza support despite Israeli strikes

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS