… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Tag: Defend Our Juries

  • 94-year-old human rights lawyer among hundreds of protestors arrested in test of Burnham’s mettle

    Spread the love

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-conference-palestine-action-protest

    The arrest of 94-year-old human rights barrister Margaret Owen OBE, now thought to be Britain’s oldest alleged terrorist

    Nearly 4,000 people have now been arrested for peacefully supporting Palestine Action since it was designated a terror group in July 2025

    ANDY BURNHAM faced growing calls to deproscribe Palestine Action today as hundreds of protesters as old as 94 were arrested for supporting the banned group during his first Labour Party conference as PM.

    Scores of police hauled away more than 230 demonstrators who sat outside the conference in Liverpool holding home-made signs which read: “I support Palestine Action.”

    Many of those arrested for alleged terror offences were pensioners, who chanted “free, free Palestine” every time a supporter was carried away.

    They included 94-year-old human rights barrister Margaret Owen OBE, now thought to be Britain’s oldest alleged terrorist, and 63-year-old ecologist Jonathan Hill. 

    Mr Hill said: “I’m here today because I want to test Andy Burnham’s mettle. I want to give him a dilemma and the opportunity to show what kind of man he is.”

    Retired teacher Teresa Garlake, 63, added: “I am here to urge the PM to reflect on who the real terrorists are.

    “This will be the eighth time I have held a sign, in solidarity with the people of Gaza, which is likely to lead to my arrest. It continues to be a great honour.”

    Nearly 4,000 people have been arrested for peacefully supporting Palestine Action in protests organised by Defend Our Juries since it was designated a terror group in July 2025.

    Massive Attack member Robert Del Naja (also known as 3D) joined their number as thousands attended a pro-Palestine demonstration calling for an end to all arms sales to Israel outside the ACC Liverpool on Saturday.

    Mr Burnham has yet to comment on the ban since taking over from Sir Keir Starmer despite the TUC and more than seven in 10 Labour party members opposing it.

    Defend Our Juries spokesman Tim Crosland told the Morning Star: “This is the first major sign holding action since Andy Burnham became PM.

    “And it is a pretty clear reminder that nothing has really changed because if you’re still arresting people quietly opposing the genocide and you’re still allowing Elbit Systems to send drones to the Israeli Defence Forces with impunity, it tells pretty much all you need to know.”

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/labour-conference-palestine-action-protest

    UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
    UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
    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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel's genocide.
    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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.
    Vote Labour for Genocide.
    Vote Labour for Genocide.

  • Hundreds to risk arrest today calling for PM to lift the ban on Palestine Action

    Spread the love
    BBC Cardiff July 2026 – Credit R Witts Photography

    Defend Our Juries will host a mass, silent signholding vigil in Liverpool this Sunday, 27 September, to coincide with the opening day of Andy Burnham’s first Labour Party conference since becoming Prime Minister. It is expected that several hundred people will gather as close to the conference center as they are able and at approximately 1pm will begin to write seven words on a sign that is likely to lead to their arrest under the Terrorism Act. 

    The words are; 

    “I OPPOSE GENOCIDE. I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION”

    The action has been designed as an integrity test of the new leadership’s commitment to ending Britain’s complicity in Israel’s ethnic cleansing and war crimes.

    Those attending the action have been asked to wear red, echoing the red jumpsuits typically worn by Palestine Action to show solidarity with those who took direct action with the group, primarily targeting weapons manufacturers sending arms from the UK to Israel. 

    Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine 'Private Eye'.
    Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.

    An increasing number of Palestine Action ‘actionists’ are facing sentencing as ‘terrorists’, despite their actions taking place before the group’s proscription, with many also being held for months or years on remand in prison whilst they await trial.

    Speaking today, a Defend Our Juries spokesperson said;

    “We will be peacefully sitting outside the Labour Conference because if PM Burnham means what he says, that he plans to end Britain’s complicity in Israel’s horrific crimes, then he would stop the arrests of people peacefully demonstrating against the genocide and the authoritarian attempts to crush its opponents. 

    We urge PM Burnham to do the only sensible thing and lift the ban on Palestine Action, the very people in the UK actually trying to prevent British complicity in Israel’s war crimes.”

    Sunday’s action will continue Defend Our Juries’ campaign to Lift The Ban on Palestine Action which, since July 2025, has seen over 3,600 arrests under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for holding such signs. Previous polling showed that the majority of Labour party members opposed the ban, which has cost the police millions to enforce.

  • Campaigners escalate protest against Palestine Action ban

    Spread the love
    https://twitter.com/DefendOurJuries/status/2066640448832131300?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2066640448832131300%7Ctwgr%5Edaeb3efe84721d97fb7a2707e492a68a1e94ee18%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdefendourjuries.net%2Fpress-releases%2Fescalation-defend-our-juries-takes-defiance-of-palestine-action-ban-to-next-level%2F

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-escalate-protest-against-palestine-action-ban

    CAMPAIGNERS are escalating their defiance of the proscription of Palestine Action by publishing videos professing membership of the group, risking jail sentences of up to 14 years.

    Defend Our Juries said today it was stepping up its actions from holding placards reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action,” which has already led to more than 3,400 arrests under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act.

    A spokesperson for the group said the government and courts had “made rods for their own backs,” adding: “The Lift the Ban campaign is not about trying to fill the prisons or break the courts.

    “It’s about Britain being full of decent people who refuse to accept their government supporting the genocide of the Palestinian people, which is the crime of crimes.”

    The spokesperson said the campaign had seen “an overwhelming response” since launching its new phase following the High Court’s ruling upholding the ban on Monday.

    “It’s true that this may end up filling the prisons and breaking the court,” they said.

    “But that’s not the intention. It’s simply the consequence of Britain being full of compassionate and caring people who refuse to be bystanders to genocide.”

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-escalate-protest-against-palestine-action-ban

    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.
    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.

  • Human rights groups hail ‘huge victory’ as six Filton 24 defendants acquitted

    Spread the love

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/human-rights-groups-hail-huge-victory-six-filton-24-defendants-acquitted

     Photo of six, taken night before action

    HUMAN rights campaigners and MPs hailed a “huge victory” for six Filton 24 activists in the face of “extraordinary political pressure” after a jury acquitted them of all charges today.

    Following eight full days of deliberation, defendants in the Palestine Action-linked case were not convicted of a single charge after breaking into a British site of Israel-based arms firm Elbit Systems.

    Defend Our Juries called the verdicts a “huge blow” to ministers who tried to make Palestine Action into “a violent group to justify banning it under badly drafted terrorism legislation.”

    And MPs joined rights groups to say the case proves the importance of jury trials after the Justice Secretary David Lammy recently announced plans to scrap the majority of juries in England and Wales.

    Labour MP Kim Johnson told the Morning Star that the verdicts were “a resounding victory for the Palestine activists and for the fundamental principle of trial by jury.”

    Activists had been held on remand for over 17 months accused of using or threatening unlawful violence and using sledgehammers during their action on the factory in Filton near Bristol.

    Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Ellie (Leona) Kamio, 30, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 20, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, had faced a series of charges for the action in August 2024.

    Despite five of them admitting in court to destroying weapons belonging to Israel’s largest arms manufacturers Elbit Systems, the jury refused to convict the defendants of criminal damage.

    Mr Corner was also not convicted of grievous bodily harm with intent for striking a police officer.

    The rest of the Filton 24 are still being held on remand in relation to the action, which sought to disrupt and expose Elbit’s role in manufacturing weapons used in attacks on Palestinians, including drones.

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/human-rights-groups-hail-huge-victory-six-filton-24-defendants-acquitted

    Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine 'Private Eye'.
    Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.