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Activism

These articles document how Prevent criminalises activism that challenges the state, especially pro-Palestinian, anti-war and climate activism.

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Logo for law firm in anti-Zionist case CategoriesLatest News

Rahman Lowe Secures Landmark Victory In Anti-Zionist belief Discrimination Claim

In a landmark Judgment handed down today, the Honourable Lord Fairley, President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), dismissed the University of Bristol’s appeal and found that Dr David Miller was discriminated against because of his anti-Zionist beliefs. The EAT upheld the decision of the Employment Tribunal and concluded that Dr Miller was discriminated against because of his philosophical belief that Zionism is inherently racist, imperialist, and colonial, and ought to be opposed. The EAT held that his anti-Zionist beliefs constitute a protected belief under the Equality Act 2010; he was dismissed because he manifested those beliefs and as the dismissal was tainted by discrimination, he was unfairly dismissed. This means that it is unlawful to discriminate against someone because they hold those beliefs. The successful appeal outcome reinforces that controversial beliefs are not excluded from protection under the EqA simply because they generate complaints or public controversy. Read more […]

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Dr Layla Aitlhadj from Prevent Watch presents at BRISMES on the Prevent duty and Palestinian student activism CategoriesPrevious Events

Prevent Watch speak at BRIMES on Prevent and Palestinian student activism

23 June 2026 – Director of Prevent Watch, Dr Layla Aitlhadj spoke at the BRISMES panel on Academic Freedom, Governance and Student Agency Under Colonial Constraints, presenting “Student Political Agency and the Governance of Palestine in UK Education.” Drawing on 850+ cases documented by Prevent Watch, she set out how Prevent operates on two levels – flagging individuals, and giving institutions a lawful basis to cancel events and vet speakers before anyone is ever referred. She traced this back through decades of UK state responses to student activism – from the Special Demonstration Squad’s surveillance of anti-apartheid students in the 1970s, to today. The point was to show that Palestine is the latest, not the first, target and that Prevent is the latest tool, the one with the most bureaucratic teeth to try and silence student activism. My argument: education isn’t targeted because it’s weak. It’s targeted because it’s powerful. […]

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picture of protest to call for ofsted to remove autism from extremism guidance under the Prevent duty CategoriesLatest News Uncategorised

Prevent Watch joins protest to call on Ofsted to delink autism from extremism

Prevent Watch joined a protest at Parliament Square yesterday calling on government to compel Ofsted to remove the linking of autism with extremism risk in its guidance on the Prevent duty.   About 100 people gathered at the square with placards such as ‘Extremism Lies, Ofsted Revise’, and then proceeded to Number 10 Downing Street to deliver a letter.   The protest and the letter was a success and we look forward to an Ofsted revision soon.   UPDATE – 10 June 2026: After much campaigning, the Under Secretary for the Department of Education has stated that the new Ofsted Prevent guidance will not include references to children with autism. We await the change: ‘extremism’ will no longer be linked to autism.   Related…   Making autistic children an ‘extremism threat’ is the latest in a long list of harms of Prevent  

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CategoriesLatest News

The Guardian: Britons’ right to protest is under threat like never before

Britons’ right to protest is under threat like never before. If you value it, speak up now, writes Imran Khan in The Guardian.  Writing on the appointment of Lord MacDonald, the former director of public prosecutions, by Shabana Mahmood, to lead a review of public order and hate-crime legislation, Khan states: “We know that racialised groups remain disproportionately unprotected because perception still shapes how the law is applied. Despite repeated calls from Muslim communities, who experience the highest levels of recorded hate crime in England and Wales, objections are raised when it comes to legally addressing Islamophobia. There is a palpable unfairness. Muslims are told they do not fall within the scope of race law, but at the same time the threshold for religious discrimination is often set too narrowly to capture how Islamophobia operates in practice. They are treated in public life as a single group and ascribed shared characteristics, regardless […]

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Prevent Watch guest lecture at guest lecture at Liverpool John Moores University CategoriesPrevious Events

Guest Lecture: Liverpool John Moores University

21 November 2025 – Dr Layla Aitlhadj, director of Prevent Watch, delivered a guest lecture to the Criminology and International Relations class at Liverpool John Moores University. The lecture, which was part of a final-year module titled ‘Security, Terrorism and War’, gave students critical insights into the Prevent Strategy from its beginning. Dr Aitlhadj highlighted the ways in which Prevent constructs ordinary behaviour, especially amongst racialised Muslim communities, as suspect. If you would like Prevent Watch to present a talk on a similar topic, or any other topic, or run a workshop for your organisation, please contact us or fill in the form on this page.

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Dr Layla Aitlhadj speaking about why the Prevent duty is Islamophobic at Bradford City Hall CategoriesPrevious Events

Bradford: Why the Prevent duty is Islamophobic

4 November 2025 –  Dr Layla Aitlhadj gave a presentation as part of Islamophobia Awareness Month at Bradford City Hall at an event, which had the theme ‘Flip the Script’. Dr. Aitlhadj addressed a full hall on how the Prevent duty embeds Islamophobia in public services. In the associated panel discussion and Q-and-A, she responded to questions from local community members, as well as local council members, police and Prevent practitioners themselves. To have Prevent Watch present a similar talk where you are, please contact us by filling in the form on this page.

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Dr Layla Aitlhadj addressing the Prevent Watch annual event 2025 CategoriesPrevious Events

Prevent Watch Annual Event 2025

Addressed by Dr Layla Aitlhadj, Prof John Holmwood and other notables including – not least – some of our clients who provided unforgettable accounts of their experiences of Prevent, the Prevent Watch annual event 2025 offered excellent opportunities to connect and reflect on a busy year. You can take a glimpse of some pictures of the event here. To connect with us and hold a workshop or event with us, please fill in the form on this page. 

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Logo for Amnesty International CategoriesLatest News

Amnesty UK: Get the Prevent duty out of our classrooms

Amnesty UK are encouraging parents and students to write to their MPs to “get the Prevent duty out of our classrooms” – and you can do so now by using their online form, because: • As a parent, you deserve to know your child is safe at school – not being surveilled. • As a student, you deserve to ask questions, grow, and learnnot be treated like a suspect. • As a teacher, you deserve to teach with trust – not fear. Find out more at Amnesty UK. 

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Obituary: Professor Conor Gearty FBA, KC (Hon), 1957–2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jgdelqjSxM Professor Conor Gearty, one of the UK’s leading human rights scholars and a much-loved teacher, colleague, and friend, died on 11 September 2025, aged 67. A founding member of Matrix Chambers, Conor helped shape the landscape of human rights law in Britain. His legal work focused on civil liberties, public law, and corporate responsibility, and he remained steadfast throughout his career in asking difficult questions — of power, of the state, and often of his own profession. But for many, Conor was more than a legal mind. At the London School of Economics, where he was Professor of Human Rights Law, he was a force of nature: fiercely intelligent, effortlessly witty, and endlessly generous with his time. His door was always open — literally and figuratively — to students, junior colleagues, or anyone who wandered in looking for a challenge, a debate, or just a good story. Born in […]

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Logo for the Evening Standard CategoriesLatest News

The Evening Standard: Midwife brings claim against trust after Prevent referral over Palestine posts

A midwife is bringing an employment claim against a hospital trust she worked for after it lodged a Prevent referral over Palestine posts supporting Palestine and criticising Zionism, her lawyers have said. Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust made the referral to the Home Office’s early intervention counter-terrorism programme, along with one to the Nursing and Midwifery Council regulator, a year after Fatimah Mohamied had resigned from her employment and following a complaint about her online activity from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), according to law firm Leigh Day. The mother-of-two, who lives in London, alleges the referrals breach her rights under the Equality Act 2010 and constitute post-employment harassment and/or discrimination. She said: “I have been subjected to a concerted and targeted effort to intimidate, harass and punish me into silence for my Palestinian advocacy and criticism of Zionism.” Read the full story on Apple News.  Related… “They […]

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