The protest is the primary in help of the proscribed group since Andy Burnham turned prime minister.
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British Police have made dozens of arrests as crowds gathered exterior a London courthouse to declare help for Palestine Motion, which is proscribed as a “terrorist” organisation within the UK.
The rally on Thursday exterior Westminster Magistrates’ Court docket was organised by the Defend Our Juries activist group to picket the beginning of hearings towards the primary of 1000’s of individuals charged with voicing help for Palestine Motion.
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Defend Our Juries says it’s searching for to safeguard the authorized course of within the UK. Critics accuse the federal government of undermining civil liberties in an try to protect Israel from the implications of the genocidal warfare it launched in Gaza nearly three years in the past.
“Expressing help for Palestine Motion is an offence below the Terrorism Act. Officers have begun making arrests,” London’s Metropolitan Police Service mentioned in a publish on X.
In footage posted on-line, dozens of individuals could possibly be seen exterior the courtroom in central London.
In a publish on X, Defend Our Juries mentioned that “a whole bunch are exterior Westminster Magistrates at present to say this isn’t terrorism!” The variety of attendees has not been confirmed.
A number of protesters waved Palestinian flags in help of these in Gaza and the occupied West Financial institution, which can be experiencing a surge in violence by Israelis from unlawful settlements, protected by the military.
Rights teams say the speedy enhance in settler violence there’s a direct results of Israeli authorities coverage.
The demonstration in London is the primary in help of Palestine Motion since Andy Burnham turned prime minister earlier this month and chief of the Labour Get together.
Israel’s assault on Gaza was not a precedence for the federal government throughout Keir Starmer’s tenure, and critics have accused his administration of being complicit.
Since launching his marketing campaign to grow to be prime minister, Burnham has tried to reframe Labour’s overseas coverage. Earlier than taking workplace, he conceded that Labour “didn’t get it proper” on Gaza and mentioned he was “sorry”.
Nevertheless, rights teams say his apology is meaningless except it’s backed by motion.
Burnham has already granted america permission to make use of some UK army bases to hold out “defensive” strikes towards Iran, a battle that started on February 28 and which a number of authorized specialists have described as unlawful.
The chief of the UK Inexperienced Get together, Zack Polanski, has in the meantime demanded that Burnham reverse Palestine Motion’s proscription.
“It’s inside the Prime Ministers energy to scrap this proscription and finish these dystopian scenes for good. There’s merely no excuse in a democracy for a crackdown in help for protest teams like this,” Polanski mentioned in a publish on X.
Polanski is the Greens’ first Jewish chief and has accused the right-wing press of erasing his spiritual identification due to his help for Palestine and opposition to Israel’s genocide.
In one other publish on X, Defend Our Juries sarcastically criticised the UK’s terrorism legal guidelines, which outlaw expressing help for Palestine Motion.
“Britain at present: An aged lady in a wheelchair is escorted away by the police and dangers as much as 14 years in jail for supporting terrorism because the Residence Secretary proscribed a protest group in 2025.
Her crime? She mentioned: ‘I help Palestine Motion and I encourage you to affix’,” it mentioned.
