Defend our Juries have announced a fresh Lift the Ban action, after the Judicial Review hearing against the proscription of Palestine Action finished on 2 December. Following the hearing the Claimant, Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori, said:

Our legal challenge to the most extreme attack on our right to free expression in recent British history has laid bare what this unprecedented ban is really about.

The Government’s presentations in court have made clear the ban rests solely on property damage, not violence – actions we took to prevent harm by disrupting the flow of arms being used to kill Palestinian people. The Government offered no justification for refusing to consult those of us whose rights this ban strips away, while admitting they did consult the Israeli embassy, pro-Israel lobby groups and weapons manufacturers like Elbit, with Starmer even discussing the proscription with Donald Trump.

This ban was always about caving into pressure to appease those interests, not about public safety. Indeed it diverts police and counter-terror resources away from actual threats to the British public, while contributing to court backlogs and potentially to already overflowing prisons.

My legal team presented an open and shut case that this proscription amounts to discrimination, and the Government provided no answer to the prima facie evidence put before the court. This includes evidence that its own advisers warned at the time that proscribing Palestine Action would raise serious questions about why it was not banning other direct action groups using similar tactics, such as Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion.

The most disturbing revelation from this hearing has been the Government’s complete failure to address the severe chilling effect of this ban on free speech we have seen impact thousands of people across the country. Justice Chamberlain warned of this when granting the judicial review, and the last four months have proved him right. The 200 arrests at that time have exploded to 2,717 people, arrested under terrorism laws for silently holding a seven-word sign, many elderly and disabled.

The court heard evidence of the utterly dystopian impacts of the ban far beyond those expressing support for Palestine Action, from a Jewish woman woken by police at her door over an email she sent criticising the ban before it even came into effect, to the prospect of Sally Rooney withdrawing her books. Other Orwellian incidents include local Palestine solidarity groups having bank accounts frozen; and police interrogations of people going about their day for simply wearing Palestine flag badges and T-shirts, all of which have nothing to do with Palestine Action.

The Government’s arguments in court have shown there is no justification for this dangerous, authoritarian assault on our fundamental civil liberties.

Defend our Juries announce next Lift the Ban action

Defend Our Juries will hold a sign-holding action outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the day the judgement of the Judicial Review is read into the court record. People will hold handwritten signs with the now legendary wording: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said:

Although we do not know whether the judgement will be delivered in December or January, we do know that there are many people determined to continue to fight against the erosion of protest rights and our government’s complicity in genocide.

This will undoubtedly create a dilemma for the police – will they arrest us as the result of the Judicial Review is being read out?

If the appeal against proscription is successful, their action looks ridiculous.

If it is unsuccessful, we will continue our pressure against this unjust law, and the dilemma of whether to continue arresting peaceful protesters under terrorism legislation for having a moral conscience will continue.

We are also aware that should the judgement be in the favour of Huda Ammori, the state is likely to challenge the verdict to ensure the proscription still stands.

We cannot stand by while fundamental rights to protest and free speech are eroded, and while our government continues to support a country charged with genocide. We will have no option but to continue our resistance.

Featured image via Defend our Juries

By The Canary

This post was originally published on Canary.