Government moves to shut down Palestine Declassified show over Iran links

The studio responsible for the broadcast of hardline anti- Zionist Chris Williamson’s Palestine Declassified programme is facing legal action from the Home Office and possible closure over alleged links to Iran.

Ex-MP Williamson, who presents the show alongside academic David Miller — a prominent critic of Zionism — confirmed the studio behind his programme had received a letter from the Government signalling potential legal action under the National Security Act.

In a post on X, he wrote:”I’ve been presenting a weekly programme alongside David Miller for the last four years, but the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is now trying to shut us down.”

He also revealed he would be “finding a new studio and changing the format of the show.”

“This, unfortunately, will come with associated production issues and costs, so we will be launching an appeal soon to help ensure that Palestine Declassified continues every week.”

The Home Office confirmed to Jewish News that the recently introduced Foreign Influence Registration Scheme was one means used to “tackle threats from the Iranian regime.”

Palestine Declassified is a weekly programme aired on the Iran-backed Press TV channel, which  discusses “the worldwide struggle to liberate Palestine”.

Williamson has now accused the Government of “state intimidation”, and insisted that the programme has no relationship to Press TV or Iran as it was “independently produced”.

But broadcasts are marked with a Press TV watermark, and shows are made available on the official Press TV website.

A government spokesman confirmed: “We have a robust package of measures to tackle threats from the Iranian regime, which we keep under constant review.

“This includes the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which strengthens our national security whilst maintaining the UK as an international hub for business.

“We take a balanced and proportionate approach to supporting organisations to comply with the scheme. But we will not hesitate to take decisive action where there is a clear risk to our national security.”

Palestine Declassified has long been accused of promoting a number of antisemitic conspiracy theories, including  the narrative that an imagined network of “Zionist” individuals and organisations exerts disproportionate and excessive influence over global affairs.

One episode included allegations that Jewish schools and organisations like Chabad were “grooming” children into Zionist ideology, claiming  they are “turning young Jews outside Palestine into partisans of Zionism” as part of “a process of grooming young people to radicalise them”.

Last week Miller said he had responded to the Home Office letter, adding: “Britain is effectively under occupation by a genocidal Jewish supremacist imperial project, which has proxies in every part of our politics, media and among business elites.

“The Home Office, in attempting to intimidate the team producing Palestine Declassified, is acting directly on behalf of the State of Israel.

“The Home Office should apply the National Security Act to clean up the vast and undue Zionist influence on our security policy, our national debates, our political parties, our intelligence services and our Parliament.”

Williamson added, “This is pure state intimidation. But we will not be cowed by these bureaucratic bullying tactics.

He added: “This drastic step by the British Government, operating at the behest of the Zionist regime, only shows how fearful they are about the information we are exposing about the global Zionist war on Palestine.”

Press TV has been sanctioned by the EU, Australia, Canada and the US, all of which cited that Press TV had broadcast the forced confessions of detainees, including journalists and activists.

Ofcom revoked its license in 2012 and has been banned from YouTube; however, it continues to stream its content across other social media sites.