When you describe what happened, you realise how ridiculous it was. A woman was dragged to court for holding up a placard that featured a drawing of a palm tree with coconuts falling from it. Superimposed on two of the coconuts were the faces of Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak, who was Prime Minister at the time. And that was it. Hauled before magistrates for carrying a daft illustration through the streets. Anyone who doubted that our liberty to speak is in peril has surely been shaken awake now.
So, yes, I believe it is hateful. But should it be illegal? No
This is the case of Marieha Hussain, a 37-year-old Londoner and secondary-school teacher. Well, until she held aloft the infamous placard, which caused her to lose her job. Last November, Hussain, with around 300,000 others, attended a ‘pro-Palestine’ demo in the capital. She was keen to have a dig at Braverman and Sunak, so she depicted them as coconuts.
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