Campaign to lift Palestine Action ban seeking ways to stop mass arrests of protesters

The campaign group calling for the UK government to lift its ban on direct action group Palestine Action said it is pursuing methods of protest that would make mass arrests of peaceful demonstrators near impossible.

Defend Our Juries (DOJ) has called regular protests since the government moved to proscribe the group in July, with mounting numbers of participants arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding signs reading, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”.

The UK government proscribed Palestine Action under anti-terror laws on 4 July, following an incident in which members broke into RAF Brize Norton and attacked two planes using paint and crowbars. They said the aircraft were being “used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East". 

The designation puts Palestine Action on a par with al-Qaeda and the 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.

Over 500 protestors - most of them over the age of 60 - were arrested under the Terrorism Act at an action in London's Parliament Square on 9 August.

But DOJ is now calling for 1,000 people to sign up to the next "mass-participation sign holding action" on 6 September, saying it will only go ahead if participant numbers reach that threshold.

During the last action in August, police operated a "street bail system", setting up “prisoner processing points” housed in pop-up gazebos on the streets of central London to deal with the volume of people arrested.

But this time, DOJ is urging participants to refuse to give their details to the police and "avoid complying with the charade of police bail",  which denies those arrested the right to immediate legal advice. 

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The group said on Thursday that “it will not be practically possible for the police to arrest 1,000 non compliant people on the same day".

It noted that if a protestor refuses to comply with the process of street bail, the police have to take that person to a police station in order to carry out the arrest, which would ensure immediate access to legal advice.

The group also advised participants to "go floppy" when police attempt to haul them away, saying "if they insist on arresting us, they will have to carry us".

It said that, unlike the action on 9 August, which was scheduled to last one hour, September's protest will "last indefinitely".  

'For as long as it takes'

It asked those participating "to remain in place, until arrested, to maintain the collectivity of the group... Please come prepared to stay for as long as it takes".

DOJ said its September action would demonstrate the scale of public opposition to the ban.

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Its call was echoed on Friday, when Amnesty International launched an unprecedented “urgent action” to its global membership, urging the UK to drop terrorism charges against peaceful demonstrators.

Amnesty UK’s Chief Executive Sacha Deshmukh said that "the UK’s prosecutors must end the prosecutions of these peaceful protesters and make clear that they won’t be bringing charges against those arrested".

The rights group said it was the first time it had targeted the UK with such a campaign over the right to protest.

Desmukh noted that the 6 August protesters "were not inciting violence" and said that "it is entirely disproportionate to the point of absurdity to be treating them as ‘terrorists’".