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Leaked email shows PSC leadership refusing to stick its neck out for Palestine Action

A leaked email has reportedly shown the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) calling on its branches not to show public support for Palestine Action. It is despite the group’s public support for Palestine Action, and it’s organising of a demo for them. This comes as the British state – in cahoots with the pro-Israel lobby – seeks to proscribe the group, smearing their non-violent ethical stand as terrorism.

Palestine Action and PSC

Palestine Action has scared the establishment because it has successfully challenged Britain’s complicity with the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza with its accessible and effective techniques.

Journalist Asa Winstanley has revealed an apparent request from PSC director Ben Jamal for branches ‘not to share or sign statements’ about Palestine Action. The reason, Jamal said, was to avoid ‘jeopardising the organisation’ or ‘putting members and followers at risk’.

Winstanley is one of many who have faced the misuse of British state power during the ongoing genocide, as authorities have increasingly sought to suppress criticism of Israel’s settler-colonial occupation and war crimes in Palestine. Counter-terrorism police unlawfully raided Winstanley’s home in 2024, with the Central Criminal Court ruling only last month that authorities had to return “all computers, phones and devices” that they’d seized many months before.

PSC guidance for branches

While PSC usually says the right things on Palestine, it does not share Palestine Action’s philosophy of direct action. The letter gave PSC branch officers “comprehensive guidance on how [branches] should handle the possible proscription”. It began by saying:

the Home Secretary’s plans are an outrageous attack on the movement and… we are doing everything in our power to campaign against this proscription taking place.

It also gave a link to a petition and e-action opposing proscription efforts.

However, in preparation for the possibility that proscription does happen, it warned against:

Publicly inviting support, for example through a social media post, wearing clothing which indicates support, or arranging a meeting where a member of a proscribed organisation speaks or a speech indicating support for the organisation

These could soon be “criminal offences which can carry prison sentences of up to 14 years”.

The letter continued by saying:

PSC’s position is clear – we will not allow any branch to jeopardise the organisation and the movement by taking such actions in the name of PSC. It is vitally important for all branches to understand this and to act accordingly – ensure that no branch communications profess support for a proscribed organisation, that no events are planned in support of a proscribed organisation, and that no clothing or signs are used which profess support for a proscribed organisation.

All of us must follow this guidance, not because we agree with the proscription of Palestine Action, but because not to do so would have catastrophic consequences for individual members, branches, PSC as an organisation and the movement as a whole.

‘No unnecessary risks’

Although the PSC doubts “the offence of support for a proscribed organisation can be applied retrospectively”, it clarified:

Please DO NOT share your own statements or comment on this issue… Branches SHOULD NOT be signing public statements or open letters on this or any other issue… Putting out content framed such as ‘we are all Palestine Action’ which may be legal to say now but could be illegal by next week, puts your members and followers at risk if they repeat or repost your content after proscription takes effect.

It argued that:

There are numerous very strong ways to oppose the government’s plan to proscribe Palestine Action as detailed above, so there is simply no reason to take unnecessary risks that do not achieve any actual results.

And it added:

Any individual who feels they cannot adhere to these guidelines and intend to continue to openly support Palestine Action after proscription, cannot do so in the name of your branch or PSC.

The question now is, will PSC supporters prefer to stick their necks out for Palestine Action? Because some certainly believe members and leaders have different feelings about Palestine Action:

The PSC’s national secretary Ben Soffa recently faced scrutiny for apparent links with Zionists. And there have been several critiques of the organisation taking overly timid or controversial positions to preserve its relative acceptability in establishment circles. This has led some to suggest the group represents “controlled opposition“.

Since the leak, PSC has come out and organised a demo:

Palestine Action’s legal challenge

Home secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action will have made her pro-Israel donors happy, while generating panic in some more fearful groups. But Palestine Action has received solidarity from countless human rights and other high-profile groups. It has also raised over £200,000 for its legal resistance to Cooper’s efforts.

An urgent hearing took place at the High Court today, with the group’s co-founder Huda Ammori applying for a judicial review. On Friday 4 July, meanwhile, there will be another hearing to determine if a temporary blockage of the ban can occur while Palestine Action waits to see (around the week of 21 July) if its legal challenge can go forwards.

Featured image via the Canary

By Ed Sykes

This post was originally published on Canary.