UK campaigners reject police attempt to delay protest over Palestine Action ban
میدل-ایست-آی - 1404-07-11 18:31:50
UK campaigners reject police attempt to delay protest over Palestine Action ban
Organisers of a protest against the UK government’s ban on Palestine Action have rejected a Metropolitan Police request to postpone the event after an attack on a synagogue in Manchester.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan wrote to Defend our Juries (DOJ) - a campaign group that has staged regular protests against the proscription of Palestine Action - asking it to reconsider this Saturday’s protest, because it would require a “significant policing plan”.
In his letter, Adelekan highlighted that DOJ’s previous protests placed “significant pressure on policing and draw officers away from communities they serve to be in central London. This means less neighbourhood and response officers in their communities and less officers focusing on police crimes”.
“Your last three events in central London have required over 2,500 to police including dedicated Counter Terrorism officers as a result of the Terrorism offences observed at your previous events,” he added.
In response, DOJ reiterated its intention to go ahead with the protest, urging police to dedicate their resources to protecting communities from reprisal attacks in the wake of Thursday's attack on a synagogue in Manchester, in which two people died, “rather than arresting those peacefully holding signs in opposition to the absurd and draconian ban of a domestic direct action group”.
It further emphasised that “it has always been the choice of the Metropolitan Police whether or not to make arrests at our protests”.
“We hope you make the right choice to not arrest those taking part, and correctly deploy counter-terrorism resources this weekend,” the statement added.
The UK government proscribed Palestine Action under anti-terror laws on 4 July, after members broke into RAF Brize Norton and damaged two planes with paint and crowbars, saying they were "used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East".
The designation puts the group on a par with al-Qaeda and Islamic State under British law, making it a criminal offence to show support for or invite support for the group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act 2000.
DOJ has staged a series of protests demanding the proscription be overturned, drawing growing numbers of people willing to risk arrest under the Terrorism Act for holding signs that read: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
More than 1,600 people have been arrested since the ban came into force, with 890 people detained at a demonstration in Parliament Square on 6 September, the highest tally yet.
But DOJ said Saturday’s protest is set to be “the biggest mass action yet defying the ban”, and that it could see the arrests “nearly double” from the current total.
With around 1,500 people pledging to take part and hundreds more expected to sign up by the weekend, the group said Saturday could mark the largest mass arrest in UK history, calling it “an extraordinary misuse of counter-terror and policing resources”.
