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.
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.