Planned Palestine Action protest will not try to overwhelm police
The Metropolitan Police and other forces nationwide have warned anyone found to be expressing support for Palestine Action will be arrested, following the Government's decision to ban the organisation last month.
Defend Our Juries said it planned to bring together at least 500 people for its planned demonstration against the ban on Saturday with organisers 'very confident' they have recruited enough participants, a spokesperson for the campaign group said.
A formal announcement will be made on Tuesday as to whether that figure has been reached and the demonstration will go ahead.
More then 200 people were arrested at a wave of protests across the UK in response to the proscription last month, as part of the campaign co-ordinated by Defend Our Juries.
Many of the protesters were detained after writing and holding up the message 'I oppose genocide I support Palestine Action' on placards or pieces of cardboard.
A Defend Our Juries spokesperson told the PA news agency: 'It is wrong to characterise this (planned demonstration) as a plan to overwhelm the police and court systems.
'If we are allowed to protest peacefully and freely, then that is no bother to anyone.'
In a further statement on its website, the campaign group said the Government had 'overreached itself' by banning Palestine Action and it was 'vital' that its campaign succeeded.
'Our groups and movements are coming together like never before, finding unity under repression,' it added.
'By refusing to give into fear and by standing together, we will face down this assault on us all.'
No location for the protest has so far been shared, but it is understood that it will take place in London and will be the only demonstration that Defend Our Juries organises on Saturday.
The Metropolitan Police have been approached for comment.
Those interested in joining the demonstration have been asked to come to briefing calls on Tuesday or Thursday, while some have had non-violence training arranged for them, Defend Our Juries said.
The move to ban Palestine Action came after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident it subsequently claimed, which police said caused about £7 million worth of damage.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action three days later, saying that the vandalism of the planes was 'disgraceful' and the group had a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'.
A High Court ruling on Wednesday decided that Palestine Action's co-founder Huda Ammori had several 'reasonably arguable' beliefs in her challenge over the group's ban that would be heard at a three-day hearing in November, but a bid to pause the ban temporarily was refused.
The ban means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, under the Terrorism Act 2000.
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