A woman is led away by police officers as supporters of Palestine Action take part in a mass action in Parliament Square, Westminster, central London, August 9, 2025
Thousands expected to attend next protest against Palestine Action ban, organiser say
THOUSANDS of people are expected to attend the next protest against the banning of Palestine Action under terror laws.
Announced today and planned for September 6, organisers Defend Our Juries (DOJ) are hopeful that the demonstration could lead to the ban on the direct action group being lifted, with Yvette Cooper losing her job as home secretary.
At least 532 people — half aged over 60 — were arrested for holding signs in support of Palestine Action, after an estimated 1,000 took part last weekend.
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Today, a spokesman for DOJ said: “With all the real challenges facing the country, it is absurd that the Labour government has generated a political crisis over people quietly holding cardboard signs against genocide in Parliament Square. This won’t be forgiven or forgotten.
“In a desperate attempt to justify their position, Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper have resorted to lying to the public about Palestine Action, claiming it to be a violent organisation, which they know to be false.
“The political ineptitude is staggering. The only beneficiaries of this policy — the brain-child of Lord Walney, a paid lobbyist — are the Israeli government and Elbit Systems, the main manufacturer of the weapons of genocide, with factories across Britain.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical publication ‘Private Eye’.Keir “I support Zionism without Qualification” Starmer supporting genocide.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.
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Pro-Palestinian activists stage a solidarity protest outside Royal Courts of Justice as co-founder of Palestine Action Huda Ammori takes Home Secretary to High Court over proscription of the group as terror organization in London, United Kingdom on July 4, 2025. Ammori is seeking to block the proscription coming into effect. [İlyas Tayfun Salcı – Anadolu Agency]
Amnesty International UK has urged the Metropolitan Police against mass arresting peaceful demonstrators expressing support for the recently banned group, Palestine Action, ahead of a major protest planned in London on Saturday, Anadolu reports.
The protest organized by the activist group, Defend Our Juries, is expected to draw hundreds.
Since the group’s ban on July 5 under the Terrorism Act, more than 200 people across the UK have been arrested for displaying slogans such as “I Oppose Genocide. I Support Palestine Action.”
Police have indicated they may arrest hundreds more this weekend, and prison authorities have been asked to prepare for a potential influx of detainees, after the justice ministry initiated a “capacity gold demand,” according to reports.
Amnesty UK Chief Executive Sacha Deshmukh urged officers to exercise restraint and uphold international human rights law, in a letter to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley.
“Peaceful protesters must be free to express themselves this weekend without fear of reprisals, said Deshmukh. Arresting people on terrorism offences for peacefully holding a placard flies in the face of international human rights law.”
“At a time when people are quite rightly outraged by the genocide they see being perpetrated in Gaza, it is more crucial than ever that there is space to peacefully express that outrage,” he also said.
The letter argues that criminalizing protest slogans supportive of Palestine Action breaches the UK’s international obligations to protect freedom of expression and assembly.
It adds that under international law, protest speech can only be criminalized if it incites violence, serious property damage, hatred or discrimination — criteria which, Amnesty notes, are not met by holding a placard.
The letter also references the High Court’s recent decision to grant a full hearing to a judicial review challenge against the proscription.
The Court ruled that the case raised “serious issues to be tried,” meaning the legal foundation for arrests under sections 12 and 13 of the Terrorism Act is now in doubt.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also publicly criticized the UK’s decision to ban Palestine Action.
And the UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights has been granted permission to intervene in the judicial review.
Defend Our Juries, which focuses on civil disobedience and protest trials, has led peaceful demonstrations in Westminster since the Palestine Action ban took effect. The protest on Saturday is expected to include up to 500 demonstrators who are expected to hold placards in open defiance of the ban.
Amnesty International has urged police to focus on facilitating peaceful protest rather than suppressing it.
“I call again on the Met police to think carefully before making rash decisions this weekend – their job is to facilitate peaceful protest, not shut it down,” said Deshmukh.
In June, the government announced a ban under the Terrorism Act 2000 after activists from Palestine Action spray-painted planes at a Royal Air Force base, an act being investigated under counter-terrorism laws.
The ban was later passed in the House of Commons and the House of Lords in July.
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Keir “I support Zionism without Qualification” Starmer supporting genocide.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.Vote Labour for Genocide.
Police officers remove a person after they took part in a protest in Parliament Square, London, to call for de-proscription of Palestine Action, July 12, 2025
MORE than 70 people were arrested on Saturday during protests demanding the reversal of a ban on Palestine Action.
Demonstrators held signs reading, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” despite warnings from police that public displays of support could violate terrorism legislation.
Police made 42 arrests in London, 13 in Cardiff, 16 in Manchester and one in Leeds.
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Another protester in London,Kris Welch, a retired special educational needs co-ordinator, said: “My father was in the Polish resistance and wanted by the Nazis and Russians.
“I grew up with the knowledge that there are some lines that cannot be crossed, and people have to stand up, whatever the consequences to them personally.
“I cannot stand by when a genocide is taking place, I cannot stand by while those who want to stop the genocide are branded as terrorists, and I cannot stand by while my government is actively complicit in the Palestinian genocide.”
Vote Labour for Genocide.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone obect 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.
Ammunition used against protestors, which led to the death of a young girl, Michelle Becker, from the large amount of tear gas that filled her home. Photo: Claridad Panamá
The demonstrations, which have lasted more than 70 days, have been firmly repressed by the Mulino government, which has affirmed that it will not repeal the social security law that has caused so much controversy.
On July 5, nearly 800 people from 17 countries signed a letter addressed to the president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, calling for international observation due to the increasing repression of protests in Panama. The document, signed by academics, artists, activists, workers, and trade unionists, also points out that the Central American country is witnessing growing criminalization of political dissent, which, according to the document, is reminiscent of the darkest years in its national history. Furthermore, the letter adds that the government is demonstrating an “authoritarian drift”.
The letter states: “President Mulino leads a legally legitimate government, but with minimal support. And he has responded to a wave of legitimate and democratic protests most violently and systematically ever recorded in the country’s history since 1903.”
For more than 70 days, thousands of Panamanians have taken to the streets, closed roads, and staged strikes against the neoliberal policies of the Mulino government. The demonstrators are demanding the repeal of:
A law reforming Social Security – reducing pensions and opening the door for the privatization of the system.
Growing US interference – according to the demonstrators, the US intends to install several military bases in Panama.
The reopening of a copper mine – the largest and most controversial in the country, already closed by the Panamanian justice system.
In this regard, the letter states: “The step taken by the Executive to suspend constitutional guarantees in the province of Bocas del Toro makes it, de facto, an authoritarian government willing to suspend the Constitution when it is unable to negotiate, dialogue or listen to its people… The abuse of power of the State through the security forces and the arguments used to justify the violation of human rights, repression, and the prosecution of leaders are not acceptable in any way.”
Therefore, the letter denounces that the country is “going backwards in terms of human rights” and requests the immediate intervention of international human rights agencies to address the Panamanian situation and thus guarantee the fundamental freedoms of demonstrators and citizens alike.
For this and other cases, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the Indigenous Peasant Movement of the Ngäbe Buglé region requested that the legislature establish a commission specialized in studying cases of human rights violations to monitor the protests. The CNDH presented more than 100 alleged cases of human rights violations, including alleged arbitrary detentions, humiliating treatment, deaths, etc. The legislature has not yet offered a response to the request.
Thus, the Panamanian political dispute has led to a massive confrontation between protesters and the forces of law and order, which is still not over.
However, as the days go by, more and more denunciations are surfacing in the media, increasing the discomfort for moderate Panamanians (former allies of Mulino), and raising concerns among international actors about partnering with a government that is widely seen as repressive.
A woman is led away by police officers as supporters of Palestine Action take part in a mass action in Parliament Square, Westminster, central London, August 9, 2025
