Supporters protest ban on Palestine Action; hundreds arrested

They came in their hundreds, a defiant crowd of all ages, risking arrest on Parliament Square to support Palestine Action labeled a terrorist entity by the British government in July -- a decision censured by the UN as a disturbing misuse of counter-terrorism laws.

The UK government is probably violating our freedom of speech, but not only that, it is also violating article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Bianca Jagger, Human Rights Advocate

• Police have arrested hundreds of protesters
  

  British police arrest over 200 people protesting govt. ban on Palestine Action

  Supporters of the now-banned Palestine Action group stage yet another protest to call for the ban to be lifted.

A peaceful protest under heavy security presence, but before long many arrests were made, among them prominent Muslim activist and former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Moazzam Begg, who says the British government's use of terror legislation to stifle dissent is nothing new.

Britain has already had a series of ridiculous terrorism laws in which they targeted the Muslim community over the past two decades, particularly with this invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and beyond. But after this time around, now it's Palestine,... has gone above and beyond, and they're not just going for Muslims, they're going for anybody and people who you will see in the crowd who have nothing to do with anything other than standing up against the greatest crime of our time, which is Israel's war crimes in Gaza.

Moazzam Begg, Former Guantanamo Detainee

• Palestine Action wins bid to challenge 'anti-terrorism' ban
  

  Palestine Action wins bid to challenge 'anti-terrorism' ban

  Palestine Action has won the bid to legally challenge the British government’s decision to ban the group under "anti-terrorism" laws.

Marji Mansfield, who was also arrested at a similar demonstration last month, says conventional lobbying has failed, and that targeted civil disobedience is the last resort.

They haven't listened to us, marching in our millions, hundreds of 1000s, month after month, they haven't listened to us. They haven't listened to our emails. They haven't listened to our petitions, but they listened to a government charged with genocide.

Marji Mansfield, Pensioner

• Palestine Action ban ‘disturbing misuse’ of UK terror law
  

  Palestine Action ban ‘disturbing misuse’ of UK terror law: UN rights chief

  Volker Turk calls on the UK government to revise its counter-terrorism legislation in line with "international human rights norms and standards.”

Meanwhile, within walking distance of Parliament, the 29th national march for Palestine has arrived in Downing Street, among other things, denouncing the ban on Palestine Action.

Everything we say about Israel, we can say against Britain and the British government, and nobody calls us terrorists. So what is this alliance that this country happens to have with a foreign country that would literally, you know, violate our own freedom of speech, freedom of expression?

Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, British Lawyer and Academic

• We bypass politicians and go straight to aggressors
  

  We bypass politicians and go straight to aggressors: Palestine Action co-founder

  Palestine Action’s co-founder outlines the group

We're a country that supposedly [is] a democracy. We're a country where free speech is allowed, free speech with responsibility. What is irresponsible about standing in the street and saying, 'We don't support genocide'?

Zack Polanski, Deputy Leader, Green  Party

Weeks after the criminalization of Palestine Action, the group won a case against prescription on July 31 allowing it to bring an unprecedented legal challenge to the government's decision, which came after activists from the group sprayed red paint into the engines of two military aircraft in an air base in central England.

• UK police arrest over 200 people at protest in support of Palestine Action
  

  UK police arrest over 200 people at protest in support of Palestine Action

  British police have arrested more than 200 people in central London at a demonstration in support of the banned pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action.

The two demonstrations may have different tactics, but they have the same aim, which is to keep the pressure on the British government over its ongoing role in the Gaza genocide and with the police under intense scrutiny.

Campaigners assert that these actions could shape the debate around the right to dissent in the UK beyond this weekend.

• Starmer decried for enabling Palestinian starvation
  

  UK Prime Minister decried for enabling Palestinian starvation

  Protesters in Britain are demonstrating against the Israeli siege in Gaza, symbolized by banging on pots and pans to represent the lives lost to starvation and hunger.

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