Palestine Action Supporters Protest Outside US Embassy Despite Proscription
Metropolitan Police warn of arrests as legal battle over group's ban continues following overturned High Court judgment.
Carla Rooney
Hundreds of Palestine Action supporters are protesting outside the American Embassy in London today.
Adam Slonecki confirmed, "All those intending on coming to this event know that supporting a proscribed organisation is unlawful – they are essentially meeting to purposefully commit a crime."
Slonecki further warned that "anyone officers consider to be playing a key role in organising the event, giving instructions to others and/or providing logistical support will very likely be committing an offence and face enforcement action."
All those intending on coming to this event know that supporting a proscribed organisation is unlawful – they are essentially meeting to purposefully commit a crime.
Another demonstration is scheduled for the US consulate near Holyrood in Edinburgh. Around 400 participants are expected across both events.
Defend Our Juries announced plans for protesters to hold signs reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” The group claims the Met shows "significant escalation" and "double standards" in enforcing the ban.
Defend Our Juries also claims the Met was "terrified of facilitating US embarrassment." They assert the US has "not shied away" from participation in the Palestine conflict.
The Met Police spent £1.3 million on six 'Palestine-Israel public order events' in June and July.
The current proscription overturned a High Court judgment from February. That ruling found then-home secretary Yvette Cooper's decision to ban Palestine Action unlawful, following a legal challenge from co-founder Huda Ammori.
Defend Our Juries says its latest demonstration comes ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on the Palestine Action ban. A Defend Our Juries Scotland spokesperson stated the ban "must be lifted, and our Government must take meaningful action to end its complicity in genocide."
The ban must be lifted, and our Government must take meaningful action to end its complicity in genocide.