Defend our Juries was co-founded by Tim Crosland, a former government lawyer and environmental activist, who told Ben Quinn this summer that he was taking part in this action of mass civil disobedience because it was his “duty to intervene”.
Crosland and others were due for an online press conference on Tuesday, but Crosland was unable to attend because he was arrested and had his home raided just hours beforehand, alongside five other Defend Our Juries spokespeople.
They have since been charged with terrorism offences, but released on bail. Speaking from when he was in custody over the phone, Crosland released the following statement: “It’s empowering to see that we’re driving the state to such desperate and embarrassing measures: treating us as terrorists for peacefully holding cardboard signs in Parliament Square.”
As well as arresting the organisers of Saturday’s protest, the police have issued strong warnings to those thinking of taking part. “They’ve been stressing the consequences of terrorism convictions, from being denied university places to losing jobs. They want potential participants to think twice before joining,” Ben said.
Defend Our Juries suggests that putting its members off is unlikely, issuing a press release under the headline: “We will not be silenced.”
Trialed and tested tactics
The tactic of mass arrests is not new in the UK. Environmentalists have used it for decades, and many of those involved with Defend Our Juries are veteran campaigners with a long history of civil disobedience.
“This is the same playbook as Extinction Rebellion. The idea that you force change by peaceful mass arrests, which overwhelm not just the police, but the court system as well,” Ben said.
He tells me that what’s new for this Saturday is that Defend Our Juries’ briefing document urges people to “go floppy” and refuse to give their name and address. That means police have to take them to stations. The organisation has advised protesters not to comply with what they describe as the “charade” of street bail, where people are processed on the side of the road, bailed and told to attend a police station on another day after handing over their details and ID.
“So that’s deliberately designed to ratchet up the pressure on the police so that there won’t be enough space in all the police cells and stations in London to accommodate this number of people,” Ben said. The Met itself has admitted that these actions present “entirely unrealistic challenges” in the past, Ben added.
What happens if the police are overstretched from an action like this? “They just can’t arrest people and then you’ve got people, in theory, breaking counter-terror laws and nobody’s doing anything about it,” Ben said. “In the previous protests, there were quite a number of people not arrested even though they were holding the signs saying ‘I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action’.”
These tactics are not just meant to overwhelm the police. “Other primary aims are to generate media attention and generate discussion about what’s happening in Gaza and the proscription of Palestine Action.”
Speaking out against the proscription
The arrests at the last protest drew media attention not just because of the number of arrests, but who was arrested. They include 75-year-old Sir Jonathon Porritt, a former government official; 75-year-old Chris Romberg, a former British army officer colonel and military attache at UK embassies in Egypt and Jordan, and the son of a Holocaust survivor; and award-winning 58-year-old poet Alice Oswald.
The most famous name who has come out in support of Palestine Action is award-winning and bestselling novelist Sally Rooney. The Irish novelist was due to speak at Defend our Juries’ Tuesday presser before its cancellation. Last month, she pledged to use proceeds from her books, including Normal People and Conversations with Friends, along with BBC adaptations of them, to support Palestine Action.
“Questions now arise about whether she’d feel safe coming to Britain, given her public support for Palestine Action,” Ben told me. “And Amnesty International is running an international campaign against the proscription, so the government is under pressure on multiple fronts.”
Others to criticise the proscription include the former cabinet minister Peter Hain, who warned the UK government was “digging itself into a hole” over Palestine Action.
“The more interesting thing in some ways is whether Labour backbenchers themselves have started having second thoughts about the proscription, and whether enough of them might want to apply some pressure as well,” Ben said.
The Labour MP Stella Creasy co-wrote an opinion piece with Hain calling for a review of terrorism legislation following Palestine Action arrests. That call was later echoed by the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey.
Under pressure
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has shown no sign of retreat on her decision to proscribe Palestine Action, while Defend our Juries hopes to ramp up the pressure to the point the law is unworkable and she is forced to resign.
Is there an off-ramp? Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori has been allowed to bring an unprecedented legal challenge to the home secretary’s decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws. If Ammori wins, it would throw the arrests and charges into chaos.
At the heart of the high court’s decision to allow the challenge were cases of police overreach. One was that of Laura Murton, who the Guardian revealed had been threatened with arrest by armed officers for holding a sign saying “Free Gaza” and a Palestinian flag. Since then, Ben has reported on the case of Miles Pickering, who was arrested for wearing a T-shirt reading “Plasticine Action.”
“The police apparently misread it at the time of his arrest. Only after he arrived at Scotland Yard did they realise the mistake, which shows the very difficult position the police are in with these tactics,” Ben said.
While the legal challenge could provide an off-ramp for Palestine Action and the government, it would feel like a humiliating defeat for the latter.
“It would be a massive embarrassment if Cooper loses this legal challenge,” Ben said. “Cooper would have been the person at the forefront of proscribing Palestine Action, so you can imagine calls for her to resign.”
He explained that Amori’s lawyers have already warned Cooper about her language, namely on the group being violent. There’s also been pushback against Labour ministers suggesting Palestine Action targets Jewish businesses, while Palestine Action insist its actions have been against Israeli arms companies, not Jewish businesses.
In another twist in the legal battle, the Home Office won permission to try to block Palestine Action’s attempt to overturn its ban under terror laws.
There are other challenges for the protesters too, Ben added. Can they keep up the momentum? How many more people are willing to be arrested and charged with terror offences?
We will find out on Saturday.
