Palestine Action protests throughout UK
Protests supporting Palestine Action are held today at Edinburgh, Caerdydd (Cardiff), Manchester, Birmingham, Cambridge, Bristol, Sheffield, Exeter and Lancaster. Starting at 1pm, there are few reports so far.
Morning Star Editorial: Don’t trust the government with abolition of most jury trials
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/dont-trust-government-abolition-most-jury-trials
FW Pomeroy’s Statue of Justice stands atop the Central Criminal Court building, Old Bailey, LondonPUBLIC anger moves MPs. The government’s retreat on the two-child benefit cap reflects pressure from campaigners and trade unions.
But if Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have had to temper their attacks on the poorest, they have not let up in their administration’s extraordinary authoritarianism.
This hit a new low with David Lammy’s proposal this week to abolish jury trials for anything other than rape, murder, manslaughter and certain offences passing a “public interest test;” and to allow judges to determine guilt on their own where the sentence is anything less than five years in prison.
…
[I]t is logical to assume that people who are happy to bully, ban and fix their way to power within a party will behave in a similar way in government.
And they have done: Labour has accelerated the erosion of citizens’ protest rights, granting police still greater power to obstruct peaceful demonstrations — and, following the ludicrous ban on direct action group Palestine Action as “terrorists,” presides regularly over mass arrests of people sitting down holding signs.
Protesters facing jail for breaching often arbitrary and confusing police conditions, activists taking action over the climate emergency or in international solidarity, would lose the safeguard of a jury of ordinary people who may judge the justice or otherwise of their actions.
The mysterious replacement of the judge due to hear a legal challenge to the Palestine Action ban — the same judge was removed earlier this year from a hearing on the legality of certain arms sales to Israel — reinforces suspicions that this is a government that will fix trials when and where it can.
The fightback against attacks on our liberties must gain the same profile across the left as the fight against government cuts. The two are linked: and the government can be defeated.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/dont-trust-government-abolition-most-jury-trials
Dozens arrested at London protest in support of Palestine Action
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At least 90 protesters were arrested at a London demonstration in support of the banned activist group, Palestine Action, police said Saturday, Anadolu reports.
The arrests as of 1800GMT are in relation to the protest organized by Defend Our Juries in support of the “proscribed terrorist organisation Palestine Action,” Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
It added that the protest concluded and those involved have left the area.
Protesters gathered in Tavistock Square, where demonstrators carried Palestinian flags and signs while chanting pro-Palestine slogans.
Some of the banners read: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
The Defend Our Juries group wrote on the US social media platform X that police instantly started arresting protestors for silently holding signs that it said opposed genocide and the Palestine Action ban.
READ: Hundreds in Sweden protest Israeli attacks on Gaza despite ceasefire
“Today’s protest is happening in Tavistock Square, London — known as the peace gardens with anti-war memorials. Lift the ban,” it added.
Palestine Action was banned in July under the UK’s Terrorism Act, a decision that has led to the arrests of hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters for holding signs or showing support for the group.
The new protests come ahead of and during the judicial review set to be heard from Nov. 25 to 27, which may see Palestine Action’s proscription as a terror organization overturned.
Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed nearly 70,000 victims in Gaza, primarily women and children, injured more than 170,800, and reduced the enclave to rubble. The onslaught came to a halt under a ceasefire deal that took effect Oct. 10.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.
READ: UK premier says rising incidents related to ‘abhorrent’ anti-Muslim hate must be addressed
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
UK police arrest London protesters opposing ban on Palestine Action
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
UK police made a number of arrests Thursday outside the Justice Ministry in London after protesters staged a silent demonstration against the government’s decision to proscribe the Palestine Action activist group, Anadolu reports.
Demonstrators held signs that read: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
Police have not confirmed how many people were detained in London, where around 100 people were gathered.
Protests also took place Tuesday in Nottingham, Gloucester, Truro, Northampton, Oxford, Leeds, Newcastle, Cardiff, Aberystwyth, and Edinburgh.
The protest was organized by Defend Our Juries, which is holding demonstrations in 18 towns and cities from Nov. 18-29, demanding the lifting of the ban.
READ: UK premier says rising incidents related to ‘abhorrent’ anti-Muslim hate must be addressed
“The Terrorism Act is being weaponized to silence the public. We will continue to resist until the ban is lifted,” the group said on the US social media company X.
Palestine Action was proscribed July 5 under anti-terror legislation following alleged attacks on the UK facilities of an Israel-based defense firm and damage to two military aircraft at RAF (Royal Air Force) Brize Norton.
The ban makes membership of, or support for, the direct-action network a criminal offense carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years.
Huda Ammori, the group’s co-founder, is taking legal action against then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to outlaw the organization.
A court hearing is scheduled for late November.
READ: London demo urges government to drop ban on Palestine Action
Lift The Ban promises “most widespread civil disobedience across the UK in modern British history”