Pressure to reverse the banning of the pro-Palestinian organization Palestine Action has been increasing in recent days in the United Kingdom. The group of activists Defend Our Juries has summoned demonstrations in at least twenty cities between the November 18 and 29 to show their rejection of the Labor Government’s decision to ban the pro-Palestinian organization for carrying out alleged terrorist actions. More than 2.000 personas of the cycle detained for participating in peaceful protests in favor of Palestine Action since its outlawing last July, of which around 250 of the cycle formally charged for showing your support for a terrorist organization.
“The authoritarian and absurd ban on Palestine Action has led to thousands of arrests of people simply for carrying banners. It has never been clearer that this ban has failed miserably and that the only sensible measure that the Government can take is go back and pick it up”explains to EL PERIÓDICO Huda Ammorico-founder of the organization. “This wave of solidarity has become a historic event of massive civil disobedience. When the people unite, change is inevitable. “The ban will be lifted, one way or another, and unity will only strengthen our collective fight for a liberated Palestine,” he adds.
Judicial proceedings
The latest arrests, close to 200, have occurred in demonstrations earlier this week in several cities across the country, including London, Cardiff, Oxford and Newcastle. Some arrests that, however, have not managed to intimidate the activists, who insist on making their voices heard a few days before the court hearing in which the High Court of Justice (High Court) must rule on the appeal presented by Palestine Action in against its illegalization. The hearing, which is scheduled to begin this Tuesday, will be decisive for the future of the organization and some of its members, who face high prison sentences for participating in direct actions.
Six activists They sat in the dock this week, accused of aggravated robbery, criminal damage and violent disorder, for breaking into the factory of the Israeli arms company Elbit Systemsin Bristol, in August 2024. The defendants allegedly broke military material, confronted security personnel and threw red paint inside the facilities to show their rejection of the British Government’s collaboration with this company, one of the main suppliers of weapons to Israel in the United Kingdom. Some of the accused, in preventive detention for more than a year, have declared themselves in hunger strike to denounce the “systematic abuse” of the prison authorities.
“There are six prisoners in Palestine in their third week of an indefinite hunger strike. Their health is deteriorating, but they remain committed to using all means at their disposal to resist injustice. They are truly the best of us, and it is the responsibility of all of us support the hunger strike and fight for their demands to be met,” says Ammori, who believes that the State’s inaction shows that it is prioritizing a “foreign genocidal arms industry” above the lives of its own citizens.
Right to protest
The banning of Palestine Action has sparked an intenso debate in the United Kingdom on the limits of freedom of expression and of right to protest. Numerous public figures, including the writer Sally Rooney and the filmmaker Paul Lavertyhave publicly shown their support for the organization, while thousands of supporters across the country wait with anticipation for the deliberations of the British justice system.
“While the judicial remedy allows us to legally challenge the ban on Palestine Action, the truth is that the power resides, and always will reside, with the people,” explains Ammori. “Whatever the outcome of the next phase of the legal battle, in a sense the people have already wonsince it has shown that it is in our collective power to confront injustice,” he says.
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