UK-wide protests against Palestine Action ban planned

Palestine Action was banned after alleged attacks on an Israel-based defence firm’s UK site and two planes at RAF Brize Norton

Protesters are set to stage demonstrations across 18 towns and cities next month, demanding an end to the ban on Palestine Action.

Organised by Defend Our Juries, the protests are scheduled for various dates in November, with an estimated 1,500 participants expected.

Locations include Edinburgh, Cardiff, Oxford, Leeds, Aberystwyth, Nottingham, Northampton, Gloucester, Truro, London, Belfast, Manchester, Birmingham, Cambridge, Bristol, Sheffield, Exeter and Lancaster.

The planned action comes as individuals accused of supporting the now-banned group, currently held in prison awaiting trial, are due to begin rolling hunger strikes this Sunday.

Protesters hold placards during a mass demonstration organised by Defend Our Juries in London earlier this month (Reuters)

Palestine Action was designated a terrorist group in July, leading to more than 2,000 arrests for alleged support.

Organisers have previously held mass events where participants displayed placards stating: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."

Defend Our Juries spokesperson Dr Clive Dolphin said: “This is about here in the UK, people having the right to protest, the right to speak up to government when they think the government has got something wrong, and fundamentally this is about the fact that the British people oppose genocide.

“They do not want to be complicit in war crimes. They do not want to see people starved to death in an artificial famine. British people oppose genocide.”

He said the sheer number of people who have been charged so far is causing “absolute chaos” in the magistrates’ court system.

Defend Our Juries said that police in the home nations are taking different approaches to the ban, with no arrests in Northern Ireland and 10 in Scotland.

Palestine Action was banned after alleged attacks on an Israel-based defence firm’s UK site and two planes at RAF Brize Norton.

People sit outside a government building during a protest in Edinburgh back in September (PA)

Campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said some suspects accused of being involved in the two alleged attacks will start a series of hunger strikes on Sunday.

Five of its members are accused of being involved in the vandalism of two planes at RAF Brize Norton on June 20, causing £7m of damage.

Another 24 people are due to face trial over a break-in at Elbit Systems in Bristol in August 2024.

The ban on Palestine Action, which began on 5 July, made membership of, or support for, the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Co-founder Huda Ammori is taking legal action against former home secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to proscribe the group under anti-terror laws.

A further court hearing is due to take place in late November.