Activists, MPs, trade unionists and artists protest in support of Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal and Stop the War Coalition vice-chair Chris Nineham at Westminster magistrates’ court, February 23, 2026
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Speaking outside the court, Stop the War convener Lindsey German said: “The people who should be in the dock are [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu, Keir Starmer and David Lammy.
“They have facilitated and allowed a genocide. We are the people standing up to it. And we will not stop. We will not stop organising.
“We have had 43 national demonstrations. Every single one of them has had restrictions put upon them by the Metropolitan Police.
“What is the aim of that? The aim is to stop people from protesting.
“There is no justification to do so. Our demonstrations have included people from every community, and they have been there to stand up for the Palestinian people.”
Her sentiment was echoed by Stop the War colleague Alex Kenny, who along with CND general secretary Sophie Bolt, will face a trial starting on March 10 facing similar charges.
“Criticising genocide is not only legitimate, it is necessary,” he said.
“We will not stop because a world that tolerates genocide is a world that can tolerate any atrocity, any crime, any violation of rights.
“Those who protest it should be thanked, not put on trial.”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Supporters outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court, London, where Stop the War Coalition Chair Alex Kenny and CND general secretary Sophie Bolt are due to appear charged with a public order offence during a pro-Palestinian rally in London on January 18
Supporters gather outside court as Palestine protest organisers pleaded not guilty to charges
SUPPORTERS gathered outside the Westminster Magistrates’ Court today as Palestine protest organisers pleaded not guilty to charges, highlighting that they are “the accusers, not the accused.”
Stop the War Coalition chairman Alex Kenny and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament general secretary Sophie Bolt are accused of failing to comply with conditions imposed by the Metropolitan Police on a demonstration held on Whitehall on January 18.
The Met previously claimed that some protesters had attempted to breach the conditions by marching out of the agreed protest area.
Both campaigners confirmed their identities and entered not guilty pleas.
District Judge Nina Tempia granted them unconditional bail ahead of a two-day trial set for March 10 and 11 2026 at the City of London Magistrates’ Court.
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On a small stage nearby, Mr Kenny quoted the Scottish socialist John Maclean, telling the crowd: “We stand here today as the accuser, not the accused, and we should always bear that in mind.
“We’re accusing the state of complicity in a genocide, and we don’t accept any wrongdoing or guilt on our part.”
He warned of a growing crackdown on protest rights, saying that there is a “concerted effort to squeeze our ability to speak up about Palestine.”
“We know that this is happening because we’ve built a mass movement that, despite the smears, lies and intimidation, will not be silenced and is not going away,” he said.
“We are the voice of majority opinion in this country, and history will prove us right and our politicians wrong.”
Calling for continued mobilisation, Mr Kenny urged people to join the next national demonstration on August 9.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities,mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers.Vote Labour for Genocide.
Police officers watch as people take part in a national march for Palestine on Whitehall in central London, January 18, 2025
22 general secretaries sign joint statement demanding charges be dropped against Alex Kenny, Sophie Bolt, Ben Jamal and Chris Nineham over peaceful Palestine demo in January
TWENTY-TWO union general secretaries raised “deep concern about the erosion of the right to peaceful protest” in an open letter today, urging the Metropolitan Police to drop charges against four Palestine march leaders.
Paul Nowak of the TUC, Christina McAnea of Unison, Sharon Graham of Unite and the National Education Union (NEU’s) Daniel Kebede were among those who said that the charges against former union members who took part in peaceful protest on January 18 mark “an attack on our right to protest.”
The signatories together represent the vast majority of British trade union members.
The former NEU executive member Alex Kenny and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament general secretary Sophie Bolt were arrested alongside more than 70 other people including director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ben Jamal and Chris Nineham, the vice-chair of the Stop the War coalition.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and ex-shadow chancellor John McDonnell were also voluntarily interviewed under caution in relation to the march.
The Palestine Coalition condemns the decision of the Metropolitan Police to issue letters ordering a range of activists, including Stephen Kapos, an 87-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor, to attend formal interviews over their alleged roles in the Palestine solidarity protest on January 18th, 2025.
Letters have also been issued to prominent actor Khalid Abdalla, Stop the War Coalition officers Lindsey German, Alex Kenny and Andrew Murray, CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt, Friends of Al-Aqsa Chair, Ismail Patel, and probably will be to others.
The police claim in the letters sent to these activists, that they breached conditions imposed by the police to limit the right to protest against the genocide in Gaza.
These restrictions almost certainly came as a result of political pressure from supporters of Israel’s pro-genocide policies.
The protest’s chief steward Chris Nineham and Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal have already been charged with offences arising from the same protest, along with many others. Chris Nineham was violently arrested on the day.
MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell have also been interviewed under caution by the police.
This apparently co-ordinated attack against the Palestine solidarity movement is endeavouring to halt public protest on the issue, through harassment of those involved in the movement, and through increasingly draconian restrictions on demonstrations.
That a Holocaust survivor is called in by the police for the alleged offence of carrying a bunch of flowers into Trafalgar Square, underlines the unjustifiable extremes to which the Metropolitan Police are prepared to go, to restrict the right to public protest and silence the Palestine solidarity movement.
What is claimed by the police as justification for this massive overreach of their powers is a complete misrepresentation of what took place, not just on the day but beforehand.
Our cause is to mobilise support for the Palestinian people suffering a genocidal onslaught by the Israeli state, backed by the British government. To pursue this just cause, we must also defend the right to protest – alongside many others who face similar restrictions.
We will not be cowed by these attacks on our rights.
We demand that the Metropolitan Police halt any prosecutions or proceedings against those involved in this entirely peaceful protest.
We further insist that the Metropolitan Police respects the right to protest and that it ceases to take instruction from those who are determined to back Israel’s genocidal actions, to maintain British state support for them, and to drive our movement off the streets.
Those who seek to do so will not succeed under any circumstances. We urge all those committed to preserving long-established freedoms to join us in protesting against this mounting campaign of state harassment.
Keir Starmer confirms that his government is cnutier than Suella Braverman on killing the right to protest.UK Labour Party Shadow Foreign Secretary repeatedly heckled at a speech to the Fabian Society over his and the Labour Party’s support for and complicity in Israel’s genocide of Gaza.
Activists, MPs, trade unionists and artists protest in support of Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal and Stop the War Coalition vice-chair Chris Nineham at Westminster magistrates’ court, February 23, 2026
