PRESBYTERIAN minister and peace activist the Rev Bill Shaw says he will not be deterred from highlighting the genocide in Gaza despite being cautioned for wearing a Palestine Action t-shirt at the weekend.
The recently-retired director of the 174 Trust in North Belfast had attended a Palestine solidarity match from Writers Square to Barclays Bank in the city centre on Saturday.
The Rev Shaw then joined others at a counter-protest to an anti-immigrant demonstration taking place outside Ten Square hotel.
At the counter-protest, the Rev Shaw, who was wearing a Palestine Action t-shirt, was questioned by police, cautioned and told to remove the top.
Speaking to the Andytown News-North Belfast News, Bill said a pro-Israeli demonstrator started videoing him at the counter-demonstration.
"A short time later, a police officer came over to me and asked could I move over to the side to have a word. He said, 'you probably know why I want to talk to you'. I replied, 'no'.
"He said it was about my t-shirt being a proscribed terrorist organisation or something along those lines and quoted a section of the Terrorism Act. He stated that he wasn't arresting me but instead issuing a caution and took my details and said a file would be sent to the PPS.
"I pointed out that the man in the Israeli t-shirt was representing an entity that has killed around 100,000 people including tens of thousands of kids. I told the officer I found his t-shirt more offensive than mine and he just blanked me.
"He then said to me, will you take your t-shirt off? I explained I had nothing on underneath. He asked did I have a jacket to put on over it, which I didn't have. I told him I wasn't taking it off. He told me if I didn't take it off, I would be open to being stopped somewhere else in the city centre by a police officer.
"I told the officer do what you have to do. I am going to do what I have to do and I wouldn't be taking my t-shirt off."
Bill says he won't be intimidated from continuing to highlight the genocide in Gaza.
"I won't be deterred from going to more demonstrations," he added. "There is one outside the BBC on Friday evening at 6pm and I will be there too," he added.
"But of course, I will have to think about wearing the t-shirt again. This campaign to prohibit expressions of support for action on Palestine is obviously being created by the British government and their policy on Palestine Action. There is obviously a directive from Westminster. It's not coming from Stormont because there there wouldn't be cross party approval.
"Wearing a t-shirt in comparison to what's going on in Gaza and what the Zionist regime have planned for Gaza, it's nothing. How any politician can stand with Israel, I really don't know. How do they sleep at night?"
