For the second weekend in a row, peaceful protesters gathered in Parliament Square in defiance of legislation which makes holding up a banner a terrorist offence with a potential 14-year sentence attached.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper brought in the proscription of direct action protest network Palestine Action on the 5th July. It was passed by a Parliament forced into an all-or-nothing vote which included two other groups most people would consider ‘real’ terrorists – Maniacs Murder Cult and Russian Imperial Movement.
A wide range of human rights groups, lawyers, protest organisers and even some of the right-wing press have raised serious concerns over designating an overtly peaceful protest campaign as ‘terrorism’. Thousands have signed an open letter to the Home Secretary.
While much was made of the damage to UK military aircraft (which it turns out don’t even belong to the RAF and were flying again within days), it must be remembered that similar actions in the past have resulted in acquittals, not terrorist labels.
Concerned civil rights activists point to the massive funding Yvette Cooper has had from pro-Israeli lobbyists, along with the secret meetings with Israeli officials and Elbit Systems personnel. The previous government promised Israel they would “do something about” increasingly damaging protest actions, which were in danger of interrupting the flow of high-tech weaponry aiding the genocide in Gaza.
The stench of corruption is overwhelming.
After last weekend’s arrests in Parliament Square, the open defiance only grew larger. People gathered in Manchester, Cardiff, Kendal, Derry, Leeds and London, holding banners which appeared to show support for Palestine Action.
A massive police operation in Parliament Square surprised the hundreds of tourists coming to view the seat of Western democracy, as they witnessed more than forty peaceful and calm individuals being surrounded by dozens upon dozens of police, who handcuffed them and carried them one by one into waiting vans. A passing hen party began chanting “Free Palestine” from their open-topped bus.
In Manchester another quiet group sat outside the BBC with their signs. Police arrested 16 there. Arrests were generally made under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act (wearing or holding articles that suggest support for a proscribed group), but Cardiff police took it all a stage further, using Section 12 (inviting support, or expressing an opinion in support). This led to extended pre-charge detention, and the smashing down of doors to conduct search raids and seize books and laptops. Two of the thirteen arrested in South Wales were Quakers, aged 78 and 80, subjected to this repressive militaristic policing for simply holding banners.
Police in Derry and in Kendall took what might be considered a sensible approach in a democratic society, leaving more than a dozen members of the public to hold their peaceful protest without any interference.
A single brave protester in Leeds suffered badly in this dystopian lottery – he was arrested and had his home raided. In London, like the previous weekend, those arrested were held until the early hours – still a major imposition, but at least no homes were raided.
Next Monday 21st July, the Court of Appeal will hear from lawyers acting for Huda Ammori, one of the original co-founders of Palestine Action, who will be making an application for a Judicial Review of the Home Secretary’s proscription of the group.
Meanwhile, next Saturday, more protests are expected around the country in the face of the clampdown on hard-won rights of assembly and expression.
