A Chicago-based news outlet has published photos of undercover police operative ‘Rob Harrison’ who infiltrated the London chapter of the International Solidarity Movement 2004 - 2007 - and revealed he deceived a woman into an intimate relationship in order to facilitate his penetration of the pro-Palestinian activist group.
John Mitting, the retired judge presiding over the controversial Undercover Policing Inquiry, has ruled the woman would be granted core participant status, meaning she played “a direct and significant role” in the matters the inquiry is examining, and the state will cover her legal costs. She has been given the pseudonym ‘Maya’.
— Asa Winstanley (@AsaWinstanley) July 10, 2019
Since the inquiry first revealed the cover name Rob Harrison in December 2018, three ISM London activists have been granted core participant status. They include founding ISM London activist Atif Chodhury, ‘MCD’ - who has been granted anonymity - and Asa Winstanley.
“According to [Chodhury], they became close friends and shared intimate personal information. He witnessed the developing relationship between HN18 [Harrison] and Maya. He ought to be well placed to describe HN18's interaction with her and with other members of the International Solidarity Movement,” Mitting ruled.
The former judge also stated one of the inquiry’s aims would now be “to determine why a group such as the International Solidarity Movement”, which had “an overseas focus”, was targeted for infiltration by a British police officer.
‘Nervous Loser’
ISM activists come from the world over — but are largely centered in Europe and North America — an engage in non-violent solidarity activities in Palestine, such as protests, chaperoning and olive-picking. Harrison never visited Palestine, but was a prominent volunteer with ISM London for some time, helping run sessions in which UK volunteers were trained on what to expect in Palestine, and leading fundraising activities. He also DJ'ed under the name ‘Boogie Knight', playing a set at ISM London's September 2005 fundraiser event ‘Dance for Peace' in East London.
— Asa Winstanley (@AsaWinstanley) December 13, 2018
Upon Harrison’s unmasking, his ISM London contemporaries expressed dismay.
Kieron Gill, now a local Labour councillor in London, remembered Harrison as a "nervous loser" who claimed not to to be educated enough to speak out on Palestine.
Another ISM London activist, who asked not to be named, said he didn't think the group would be targeted by police in the first place, as it would've been "a waste of time" — "we weren't a threat to anyone in my opinion."
— Asa Winstanley (@AsaWinstanley) December 13, 2018
Another activist, who likewise wished to remain anonymous, suggested information Harrison collected may have been passed to Israeli authorities, and could account for why so many ISM activists got refused entry to the country.
She recalled a journey to Palestine in 2005 she took part in with three other ISM volunteers, in which she was granted entry, but the others weren't — and Israeli lawyer Gaby Lasky told her the Israeli authorities had "international security" records on at least one member of the embargoed trio.
At the time, she mistook this as a reference to the individual’s anti-apartheid campaigning in South Africa many years prior.
The activist in question is now convinced information ‘Harrison' gathered did play played a part in his denial of entry — although ISM was not officially a banned group, its activists were often refused entry to or deported from Palestine by Israeli authorities.
