The Palestine Action crackdown
Given the news over the weekend that more than 100 pro-Palestine protesters across the country were arrested for allegedly supporting the recently proscribed group Palestine Action, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the UK is teeming with defiant activists determined to flout the law. But on Monday (21 July) outside the Royal Courts of Justice, just a single protester stood dressed in red, white and green, her lonely Palestine flag rippling in the warm breeze. Inside, Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori was attempting to persuade a judge to allow her to challenge the group's proscription at the High Court.
Founded in 2020, Palestine Action embraced direct action protests in order to disrupt the manufacturing of or sale of weapons to Israel. They have blockaded or broken into Israeli weapons factories operating in the UK, spray-painting private property and destroying equipment. Their cause, if not necessarily their methods, has broad support: a recent YouGov poll found 55 per cent of the British public think the UK Government should not approve the supply of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper raised the prospect of proscription in June after PA campaigners sprayed paint into the engines of two Voyager aircraft at RAF Brize Norton. On 2 July, 385 MPs to 26 voted in favour of proscribing Palestine Action – the first time a non-violent direct action campaign group had ever been proscribed. On the eve of the group's official proscription two weeks ago, Ammori had argued in this same court for 'interim relief' on that decision (which was denied). Then, hundreds of protesters had furiously chanted their support for the group – as well as their opposition to Israel's war in Gaza – outside the Royal Court, a sea of anger, keffiyehs and signs declaring 'We Are All Palestine Action' spilling down the pavements of Fleet Street.
But by proscribing Palestine Action, the government has made even the suggestion of support for the group a crime under the Terrorism Act 2000. Those arrested holding a sign or wearing a T-shirt with the words 'Palestine Action' can now face up to six months in prison. Those who are found guilty of belonging to the group can now be jailed for up to 14 years.
Over the weekend, protests in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Leeds and elsewhere led to the arrests of dozens of protesters, many for simply holding signs that read 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.' Among those arrested under suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000 in recent weeks: a vicar, a former government lawyer, various pensioners. On 14 July, Kent police threatened a woman with arrest under the Terrorism Act for brandishing a sign that read 'Free Gaza' yet made no reference to Palestine Action.
But on Monday, there was no trace of defiant crowds outside the Royal Court of Justice. Yael Kahn, the 72-year-old lone demonstrator, told me that she was disappointed but not surprised to be the only one on the street. 'That is the aim of this proscription,' she said. 'It's not aimed just at Palestine Action. Its aim is to silence and cause us all fear.' She's not alone in that assessment. Campaigners, legal experts and politicians I have spoken to have all warned of the 'chilling effect' that the proscription of Palestine Action will have on speech opposing the war in Gaza.
Khan, an Israeli Jew who now lives in London, told me that she has a long history of campaigning on behalf of Palestine. 'You know, the people who're standing today against the genocide in Gaza, I wish they were there in the Second World War when my family was exterminated. You know, that's what we need. We need that humanity. I love the people who are going out of their way and taking time off and finding lots of different ways to protest.'
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Though Kahn's sign didn't have the words 'Palestine Action' on it, it did condemn the proscription of 'PA'. Half a dozen unbothered police officers stood by as we chatted. I asked her if she was worried they would arrest her. 'Don't give them any ideas,' she joked, telling me she had been arrested several times in the past for protesting. But when I asked her if she really had no fear over possibly being charged with a terrorism offence, she turned serious. 'When I know the children are dying from starvation, babies are dying because mothers cannot breastfeed?' she asked. 'I mean, there's no way I can be silent.'
[Further reading: Labour's misguided assault on Palestine Action]
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