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A high school teacher says she has been left anxious and depressed after being investigated by her employer for protesting in support of Palestine, as a new report reveals a pattern of crackdowns against the cause.

Sajia Iqbal, 43, says she took part in a direct action at her local Sainsburys supermarket in Ilford on 5 April 2025 as part of a Redbridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest.

The action was intended to make a point about the boycott of Israeli goods amid the country’s military action in the Gaza Strip.

A group of around 10 people collected items from the shelves and placed them in a trolley with the Palestine flag. They handed a letter to the manager explaining the action and calling for the supermarket to uphold the boycott.

“We didn’t remove any goods from the shop and we didn’t leave with any goods from the premises,” she tells The Independent in her first interview since the event. “No complaints were made. Police were not called.”

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(ELSC)

Ms Iqbal partook in the action in her personal time and outside of working hours with nothing to identify her or her affiliation in the school.

After the protest, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) told the school that Ms Iqbal may have committed the criminal act of “aggravated trespass”. She was placed under investigation as part of Beal High School’s formal disciplinary process and has since described how the ordeal had a negative impact on her physical and mental health.

The school found that no misconduct had been committed but warned her that future Palestine-related action could trigger further action. She went on a period of sick leave and says she was later given a formal written warning in relation to her sickness absence.

She says she was unfairly penalised for exercising her right to protest, and has commenced Employment Tribunal proceedings against the school alleging discrimination on grounds of protected belief of anti-occupation and anti-apartheid, according to the European Legal Support Centre who is taking the case to court.

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Protests in support of Palestine have grown exponentially (AP)

Beacon Academy Trust told The Independent: “The Trust did receive a letter from UKLFI making a number of serious allegations about Ms Iqbal, a teacher at Beal High School. The allegations were informally investigated by the Trust but no disciplinary action was taken against Ms Iqbal.”

Her case comes as a new report by the ELSC documents 964 verified incidents of arrests, workplace dismissals, suspensions and event cancellations after an expression of support for Palestinians.

The Index of Repression covered incidents across the UK from January 2019 to August 2025, with the data showing a marked increase in incidents following 7 October 2023.

Students, academics and teachers were targeted in 336 of the incidents while activists and organisers were affected in 229. Other professions which were frequently targeted for expressing support for Palestine included public and private sector workers as well as artists and cultural workers.

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Protesters gathered outside Woolwich Crown Court (PA) (PA Wire)

It found that UKLFI was involved in 128 incidents of complaints. The Independent has contacted the group for comment. Last year, the Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) and the European Legal Support Center lodged a complaint against UKLFI with the Solicitors Regulations Authority, accusing the group of sending “vexatious and legally baseless” complaints. The UKLFI said the claims were unfounded in a statement published on their website.

A UKLFI spokesperson told The Independent: “Over the past three years UKLFI has been approached by thousands of distressed individuals, telling us about instances of anti-Jewish or anti-Israel hatred, discrimination, or support for terrorism. We highlight where we believe such action has breached the law or professional regulations, in order to prevent or discourage such harmful activities.

“In all our work we strive to be accurate as to the facts and in our assessment of the legal and regulatory implications. We urge those who advocate for the right of supporters of Palestine to show tolerance of, and respect for, the rights and beliefs of others, which would make many of our interventions unnecessary.”

In regards to the complaint against Ms Iqbal, the group said: “We understand that Ms Iqbal was president of the Redbridge branch of the NEU, the union which had been encouraging members to advocate for Palestine in schools. Therefore we warned her school to be aware in case Ms Iqbal attempted to spread her partisan views to pupils, thus breaching Sections 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996, regarding indoctrination and presenting a balanced treatment of political issues.

“Furthermore, the Department for Education’s Teachers’ Standards guidance says that a teacher is expected to demonstrate consistently high standards of behaviour and ethics inside and outside school and to uphold public trust in the profession. Teachers are supposed to show tolerance of, and respect for, the rights and beliefs of others.

“By removing shelves full of kosher and Israeli products in a supermarket, and obstructing others from buying them, we believe Ms Iqbal demonstrated an intolerant attitude towards those with different faiths and beliefs, being especially harmful to Jewish people. In our opinion, Ms Iqbal was also likely to be in breach of her own school’s code of conduct. In carrying out this disruptive conduct, she was, in our view, in breach of her obligations as a teacher and as a citizen.”

Earlier this month the group lobbied to have the word “Palestine” removed from displays at the British Museum, accusing it of “obscuring the history of Israel and the Jewish people”. The word was removed by the institution as it said the name was no longer historically neutral.

Journalists and other media actors were involved in 113 incidents of reports against pro-Palestine solidarity, while pro-Israel advocacy and lawfare groups were involved in a total of 141.

Police and security personnel took action against expressions of support in 220 incidents while educational institutions were involved in 192 instances.

It highlights allegations of extremism and antisemitism as frequent instruments used in complaints.

Ms Iqbal, whose family hail from Kashmir, a territory occupied by both India and Pakistan, says she felt personally invested in protesting against Israeli action in Palestine for years due to a trip to the West Bank shortly before October 7. She has been regularly involved in community organising and activism through work with the National Education Union.

“I saw children’s schools demolished, they didn’t have ventilation and they were in makeshift rooms. Schools had been raided.

“I made a promise to the Palestinian people, when I was out there, I made a promise that I would use my voice, a powerful tool to advocate for them.”

Ms Iqbal was left in “complete shock” by the complaints against her and started to suffer from “severe anxiety and stress”, which also impacted her physically.

“You don’t expect that,” she says. “You’re advocating for people’s rights in a democratic way. You’re exercising your democratic right.”

However, she says she is more determined than ever to persevere.

The ELSC said the report makes clear “a pattern of anti-Palestinian repression” across UK society.