Archiv: politische Verfolgung / political persecution


07:47 [ NewArab.com ]

CAIR Director Nihad Awad: Texas terror designation ‘unconstitutional’

In an interview with our Arabic edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Awad said: „We defeated him three times in court when he ignored the rights of Texas citizens in the right to boycott against Israel.

We believe this is retaliation against the institution, and US courts do not allow any official in power to take revenge on an institution or place that defeated them in the judiciary.“

Founded in 1994, CAIR is the largest civil-rights and Muslim advocacy organisation in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, DC, it operates more than 35 regional offices nationwide.

07:16 [ Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) ]

CAIR, CAIR-TX Declare Civil Rights Work in Texas ‘Will Continue Undeterred’ After Greg Abbott’s Latest Attempt to Smear Critics of the Israeli Government

(November 18, 2025)

The Texas chapter and national headquarters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today announced that it would carry on its civil rights work in Texas and vigorously defend its right to do so in response to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s “defamatory and lawless” proclamation smearing the organization.

In its response to Abbott’s proclamation, CAIR’s legal team is preparing to take appropriate action to address it. CAIR has also sent a letter to Abbott debunking his claims and detailing the Muslim civil rights organization’s three-decade record of both defending civil rights and condemning all forms of unjust violence, including terrorism. The letter also cites numerous rulings and independent reports debunking efforts to smear CAIR or link it to any foreign entities.

07:08 [ New York Post ]

Texas Gov. Abbott declares Muslim civil rights group CAIR a ‘terrorist’ organization

(November 18, 2025)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has formally labeled the Council on American-Islamic Relations, one of largest Muslim civil rights groups in the nation, a foreign terrorist organization.

In his Tuesday declaration, Abbott vowed to go after the Washington-based group, accusing them of having direct ties with Hamas and vowing to have the state attorney general “sue to shut them down” in Texas.

19.11.2025 - 19:20 [ Defend Our Juries ]

November ’25 – multiple dates, multiple towns and cities – all say Lift the Ban!

Aberystwyth one of 10 UK locations to join Palestine Action protestCambrian News, 18 November 25

Devon and Cornwall Police overwhelmed by the number of protesters defying ban on Palestine ActionCobblestone Media, 18 November 25

‘Increased’ police presence at protest to lift ban on Palestine ActionGloucestershire Live, 17 November 25

Arrests at Palestine Action protest in LeedsBBC – West Yorkshire, 18 November 25

Nine arrests made at pro-Palestine Action protestBBC – Northamptonshire, 18 November 25

Hunger strike continues as protests planned in Aberystwyth and CardiffPembrokeshire Herald, 17 November 25

19.11.2025 - 19:17 [ Consortium News ]

What Did Palestine Action Do to be Named Terrorists?

Shortly after midnight on June 20, activists from Palestine Action cut through the outer fence of Brize Norton and sped across the tarmac on electric scooters.

Undetected by guards, they proceeded to spray red paint into the turbines of two Voyager aircraft, used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) for air-to-air refueling and strategic air transport missions. Crowbars were also reportedly used.

Three days later, Britain’s home secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament that she had decided to proscribe Palestine Action under Section 3 of the Terrorism Act.

19.11.2025 - 19:14 [ Novara Media / Youtube ]

Absconded Palestine Action Prisoner Speaks Out In Exclusive Novara Media Interview | #NovaraLIVE

Nov 13, 2025 Novara Live – NEW episodes every weekday 6pm UK
We speak to absconded Palestine Action prisoner Sean “Shibby” Middlebrough.

19.11.2025 - 19:06 [ Middle East Eye ]

England and Wales arrest dozens of Palestine Action supporters

Police response to protests against group’s ban remains divided, with Scotland and Northern Ireland making no arrests

19.11.2025 - 19:03 [ theNationalNews.com ]

Palestine Action campaign launches week of UK protests

(November 18, 2025)

Demonstrators opposing a ban on protest group Palestine Action are stepping up pressure with a week of demonstrations across the UK.

The plans centre on the display of signs reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”, for which protesters could face arrest under UK terrorism laws.

The High Court will next week review a challenge to the proscription mounted by Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori, after a failed attempt by the UK government to block her appeal.

16.11.2025 - 15:26 [ ActionNetwork.org ]

Lift The Ban – November 2025 Action

In November, Defend Our Juries will be escalating the campaign to Lift The Ban on Palestine Action ahead of the Judicial Review against the ban.

Locations for the November wave have now been announced, with actions to take place across the UK on two key dates (18th and 29th November), as well as four actions in London (20th, 22nd, 24th, 26th November) and one in the North of Ireland (22nd November). All actions will take place in central locations per town/city.

Read the all important Action Briefing Document here for full details as they emerge (this is a Live document, please check back regularly for info and changes) – taking action in Scotland? Please read the Scotland-specific Action Briefing Document as the law is slightly different there.

Locations:

Tuesday 18th – Gloucester, Truro, Nottingham, Northampton, Oxford, Leeds, Newcastle, Caerdydd (Cardiff), Aberystwyth, Edinburgh.

Thursday 20th – London.

Saturday 22nd – London, Belfast.

Monday 24th – London.

Wednesday 26th – London.

Saturday 29th – Bristol, Birmingham, Exeter, Cambridge, Sheffield, Lancaster, Manchester, Edinburgh, Caerdydd (Cardiff).

Each of the actions will take place at 1pm (unless specified otherwise), at a location which will be emailed out to those signed up a few days before the action date. All locations will be accessible with public transport in the city of action. More locations may be released at a later date.

16.11.2025 - 15:08 [ Defend Our Juries ]

Lift the Ban – November

• Defend Our Juries are hosting a series of Open Calls as we approach the November 2025 National wave of action.

• Open Calls will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The next call will be on November 18th (the first day of action!). Calls go live at 6:30pm via the button below.

• (note: the button will only go live once the call is active – refresh this if the button appears greyed-out after 6:30pm on the dates specified.)

16.11.2025 - 14:39 [ Daily Mail ]

Police arrest five after Palestine Action banner is hung from Westminster Bridge as pro-Gaza supporters pledge week of mass action

The individuals, aged between fifty and seventy-five, were arrested on the bridge on suspicion of encouraging support for a proscribed organisation contrary to Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000

16.11.2025 - 14:33 [ PrisonersForPalestine.org ]

BANNER DROPPED FROM WESTMINSTER BRIDGE WHICH READS ‘WE SUPPORT THE HUNGER STRIKE. WE SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION’

At 12PM on Saturday 15th November, five protestors were arrested under the Terrorism Act for dropping a large banner from Westminster Bridge which read, ‘We Support The Hunger Strike. We Support Palestine Action.’

The action was taken not only in support of Palestine Action, who were proscribed as a ‘terrorist’ group, by the British government, on the 5th July 2025, but in support of the hunger-strike currently being undertaken by a number of Palestine Action prisoners. The prisoners, who have formed Prisoners For Palestine, launched an indefinite, rolling, national hunger-strike on the 2nd of November, the anniversary of the signing of the Balfour Declaration, in support of a list of demands communicated to the government 2 weeks earlier.

13.11.2025 - 20:56 [ United Nations ]

‘A wave of truth’: COP30 targets disinformation threat to climate action

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva set the tone at the opening session, declaring that the battle for truth has become just as critical as the fight to cut emissions. COP30 must mark “a new defeat for climate denialists,” he said.

On Wednesday, 12 nations – including Brazil, Canada, France, Germany and Spain – signed onto the first-ever Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change, pledging to fight back against the flood of false content and protect those on the frontlines of truth: environmental journalists, scientists and researchers.

The declaration, unveiled under the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change, calls for concrete steps to dismantle networks of climate lies and shield evidence-based voices from harassment and attacks.

11.11.2025 - 20:36 [ theNews.com.pk ]

Imran may stay behind bars in 2026 and beyond

(October 25, 2025)

Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi’s appeals against their conviction in the Al-Qadir Trust case have not yet been scheduled for hearing by the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Before that, the IHC must hear their plea seeking the suspension of their conviction, and there is no indication of when that will be taken up.

Under the policy announced by the IHC, such appeals are heard strictly in the order of filing. The IHC’s “Fixation Policy,” framed under the directions of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC), gives priority to older and more serious criminal cases, particularly those involving death sentences and life imprisonment.

Imran Khan’s appeal in the Al-Qadir Trust case, in which he and his wife were sentenced to 14 years, was filed on January 31, 2024 has not been fixed for hearing as yet.

11.11.2025 - 20:32 [ Time Magazine ]

The Trial and Imprisonment of Pakistan’s Imran Khan

(November 6, 2025)

After a decade and a half of making little headway in politics, Khan aligned himself and his PTI with the military in the early 2010s, and eventually rose to power as prime minister in 2018. After some years of power-sharing, Khan fell out of favor with the military establishment and was ousted from office after a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022.

Khan blamed the army and the United States for engineering his ouster, and led energetic protests demanding immediate, fresh elections. After he was briefly arrested in May 2023, his followers attacked Pakistan’s military headquarters in Rawalpindi and the home of a senior military official in Lahore. Khan stands accused of instigating those attacks.

11.11.2025 - 00:08 [ PrisonersForPalestine.org ]

Statement from Heba Muraisi

I knew that in order to win this fight, we had to engage the enemy’s main force, and here in the UK, that would be Elbit. It wasn’t a recruitment, but rather a conscious incorporation from my part: I became Palestine Action.

And now, from behind these steel walls and sensors, I will continue the fight and to resist. This is for the mothers who can’t bury their children, for the fathers who had to bury all of theirs. For the children who have no family left and too young to understand why. And for my family – who I don’t even know if they’ve made it out of Rafah.

I will not compromise until all demands are met. Long live the intifada.

10.11.2025 - 23:42 [ PrisondersForPalestine.org ]

Statement from Jony Cink

My whiteness and class status protect me from the worst of the British prison system. I often think of Palestinian prisoners in zionist torture dungeons, of my comrades punished for their faith, with imprints of fascist tendencies, that mature in British prisons, on their skin. We stand united by our desire for freedom. Shared, collective freedom, One that can only be achieved through relentless struggle. One that demands nothing short of justice.

It is with these principles in mind that I join a collective, open-ended hunger strike demanding cessation of all operations by Elbit Systems UK; immediate unconditional bail for all Prisoners for Palestine imprisoned before trial; right to a fair trial which can’t be conducted without the disclosure of all foreign and political interference in our cases; complete end to the use of terrorism legislation against those acting to stop a genocide; and an immediate end to censorship of all communication to and from prisons.

10.11.2025 - 20:26 [ PrisondersForPalestine.org ]

Statement from Teuta Hoxha

I join my dear comrades in the hunger strike, returning to this position with more patience and determination than previous. You need energy to fight your case. Prison tried to dissuade me last time. I remind them this is a witch hunt, not a fair fight, and that behind the arrests of dissenting voices under counterterrorism powers, holding us on remand without trial for nearly two years and targeting protesters who condemn Palestinian suffering, is the palpably desperate attempt to force us all under the imperial boot of submission. But not even these threats and abuse of powers can undo the awakening we’ve had and the deep-rooted solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters. Labelling us as terrorists only adds salt to the moral injury forced upon us all by Britain’s complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

10.11.2025 - 20:18 [ Electronic Intifada ]

Exclusive: Absconded activist refuses to be “prisoner of war”

Middlebrough, whose trial date is set for April 2026 and who had already spent a year in pre-trial detention, was facing a total of over 18 months on remand, far exceeding the six-month pre-trial custody time limit.

“I am not on the run. I am merely being sensible, refusing to be held as a prisoner of war of Israel in a British prison,” Middlebrough said in a statement obtained and verified by The Electronic Intifada. “Outrageously, 23 of my heroic and honorable co-defendants remain in prison following our kidnapping by counterterrorism police.”

The British government proscribed Palestine Action as a “terrorist group” on 5 July of this year, prompting a rare protest against the UK from the UN, which called the the banning order a “disturbing misuse of UK counterterrorism legislation.”

Of his arrest, Middlebrough said police used counterterrorist tactics despite him not being charged with terror offenses.

“We were raided, our families detained and guns pointed at our heads despite not being charged with any terror offenses,” Middlebrough said in the statement. “The UN has condemned our treatment as likely ‘enforced disappearance,’ while my co-defendants are indefinitely detained before facing trial.”

10.11.2025 - 20:05 [ Middle East Eye ]

Palestine Action prisoner absconds while sixth detainee joins hunger strike

A prisoner held on remand in the UK for alleged offences relating to Palestine Action activities has failed to return after being temporarily released from a south London Prison.

Sean Middleborough, 32, who was being held on remand at HMP Wandsworth, failed to return after being granted bail to attend his brother’s wedding. (…)
Many have been held for over a year on remand – exceeding the legal six month pre-trial custody time limit.
(…)

On Monday, Kamran Ahmed, 27, became the sixth prisoner to join the open-ended hunger strike.

He joins T Hoxha, Jon Cink, Heba Muraisi, Qesser Zurah and Amu Gibb in the mass food refusal after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood failed to respond to a letter demanding immediate bail and the de-proscription of Palestine Action.

03.11.2025 - 20:22 [ ActionNetwork.org ]

Lift The Ban – November 2025 Action

Locations for the November wave have now been announced, with actions to take place across the UK on two key dates (18th and 29th November), as well as four actions in London (20th, 22nd, 24th, 26th November) and one in the North of Ireland (22nd November). All actions will take place in central locations per town/city.

Read the all important Action Briefing Document here for full details as they emerge (this is a Live document, please check back regularly for info and changes) – taking action in Scotland? Please read the Scotland-specific Action Briefing Document as the law is slightly different there.

03.11.2025 - 20:13 [ Defend Our Juries ]

Lift the Ban – November

• Defend Our Juries are hosting a series of Open Calls as we approach the November 2025 National wave of action.

• Open Calls will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting on November 4th. Calls go live at 6:30pm via the button below.

• (note: the button will only go live once the call is active – refresh this if the button appears greyed-out after 6:30pm on the dates specified.)

03.11.2025 - 20:01 [ PrisonersForPalestine.org ]

Third prisoner joins Prisoners for Palestine hunger-strike

On Sunday 2nd November, Balfour Day, 20-year old Qesser Zuhrah and 30-year old Amu Gibb launched the Prisoners for Palestine rolling hunger strike by refusing food at Bronzefield prison. They have now been joined by Heba Muraisi, who is being held on remand at New Hall prison.

Heba, originally from Yemen, with family in Gaza, refused food, at breakfast time today, Monday 3rd November, becoming the third prisoner to join the national Prisoners for Palestine open-ended hunger-strike, alongside Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gibb.

Heba Muraisi has been imprisoned without trial since being remanded into custody on 19th November 2024. She became one of the Filton 24, after being violently arrested in a dramatic dawn raid, by counter-terrorism police, in what was the third wave of arrests in relation to a Palestine Action raid on Israeli arms maker, Elbit Systems‘ Research and Development Hub at Filton, Bristol, in August 2024.

26.10.2025 - 15:05 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

Totalüberwachung, und damit ermöglichte politische Verfolgung, wird nun „gezielt“ erlaubt

(July 2, 2016)

Die Vorgänge repräsentieren nicht nur den Totalausfall einer weiteren Generation von Deutschen und die Legasthenie ihrer Fachidioten. Sie werfen auch ein Schlaglicht auf weltweite Datenbanken von Geheimdiensten, Anwaltsfirmen und Banken und deren politische Verfolgung von „politischen Individuen“.

Die seit 2002 durch den Staat offen praktizierte, aber von fast allen ignorierte „strategische Überwachung der Telekommunikation“ an deren Infrastruktur wird nächsten Freitag durch das Parlament im neuen B.N.D-Gesetz präzisiert.

Hinweis 09.07.16: das Gesetz, Drucksache 18/9041, wurde in erster Lesung behandelt, ist somit noch nicht beschlossen und bis nach der zweimonatigen „Sommerpause“ des Bundestages vertagt.

Damit hat die Simulation von „Opposition“ und „Untersuchungsausschuss“ in der seit Beginn der Snowden-Affäre außer Funktion gesetzten Republik ihren objektiven Zweck erfüllt.

Unter dem Netzpolitik.org zugesandten Geschwafel irgendwelcher Simulanten ist lediglich das Statement vom Beirat der DE-CIX Management GmbH relevant. Klaus Landefeld gegenüber Netzpolitik.org:

„Alles, was NSA und GCHQ vorgeworfen wurde, soll dem BND jetzt auch erlaubt sein – die Bundesregierung legalisiert die Praxis sozusagen im Nachhinein.“

Das ist falsch.

Erlaubt war dem B.N.D. das vollständige Kopieren an den Netzknoten, auch am Frankfurter DE-CIX, spätetens durch die im November 2005 erneut verschärfte Regierungsverordnung „Telekommunikations-Überwachungsverordnung“ (TKÜV). Darunter fielen auch „inländische Fernmeldenetzknoten, die jeweils mit einem ausländischen Netzknoten zusammengeschaltet sind“ und „vom und in das Ausland“ geführter Telekommunikationsverkehr (Zitat Bundesverfassungsgericht, Beschluss 1 BvL 7/08, 13.05.2009).

Der Bundestag, natürlich auch „Linke“ und „Grüne“, wusste davon spätestens seit 2012.

Welche Luftnummer auch die DE-CIX Management GmbH und ihr Beirat Klaus Landefeld repräsentieren, mag man der Tatsache entnehmen, dass Landefeld nun hinsichtlich des Raubkopierens des deutschen Staates am größten Telekommunikations-Knoten auf dem Planeten von einer „Legalisierung im Nachhinein“ redet, aber im April 2015 genau gegen diese bislang angeblich illegale Praxis des B.N.D. vor dem Bundesverwaltungsgericht klagen wollte. Bereits damals hieß es unter der Presseerklärung:

„Eine Klage wurde aber noch nicht beim Bundesverwaltungsgericht eingereicht. „

Sie wurde auch nie eingereicht.

Der Beirat der DE-CIX Management GmbH Klaus Landefeld nun am Donnerstag weiter gegenüber Netzpolitik.org zum aktuellen B.N.D.-Gesetz:

„Wenn der Gesetzentwurf so verabschiedet wird, wird erstmalig in voller Absicht eine anlasslose Massenüberwachung im Inland gezielt erlaubt.

Auch die Kommunikation deutscher Staatbürger wird dem Dienst dabei zugeleitet, der einzige Schutz unserer Grundrechte besteht in einem obskuren, geheimen Filter welcher – wie bereits in der Gesetzesbegründung ausgeführt – schlicht nicht in einem ausreichenden Masse funktional ist.“

Wie bereits hinreichend dargelegt, verbirgt sich hinter der Formulierung „gezielt erlaubt“ die Legasthenie einer weiteren Generation von Deutschen in ihrer Gesamtheit.

Mit dem „obskuren, geheimen Filter“ meint Klaus Landefeld offensichtlich die in der TKÜV durch den Staat offen und für jeden einsehbar verfügte

„Aufstellung und..Betrieb von Geräten des Bundesnachrichtendienstes.. die nur von hierzu besonders ermächtigten Bediensteten des Bundesnachrichtendienstes eingestellt und gewartet werden dürfen“.

26.10.2025 - 14:21 [ Nachdenkseiten ]

Schon wieder Hausdurchsuchung wegen „falscher“ Meinung: Diese Einschüchterungen müssen aufhören!

Hintergrund ist laut Bolz‘ Anwalt Joachim Steinhöfel ein Tweet aus dem Januar 2024, in dem Bolz schrieb:

„Gute Übersetzung von woke: Deutschland erwache!“

(…)

Nach Angaben der Staatsanwaltschaft kam der Hinweis von einer Meldestelle gegen Hetze in Netz, wie Medien berichten. Nach Informationen der Welt erhielt die Zentrale Meldestelle für strafbare Inhalte im Internet (ZMI) des Bundeskriminalamtes (BKA) bereits am 27. November 2024 eine Meldung der Plattform „HessenGegenHetze“ zu dem Beitrag von Bolz. Laut den Berichten ging auch im sogenannten „Schwachkopf“-Prozess gegen einen bayerischen Rentner, der ein satirisches Meme über Wirtschaftsminister Robert Habeck (Grüne) geteilt hatte, der entscheidende Hinweis von „HessenGegenHetze“ aus.

Kürzlich hatte auch der Politiker Jürgen Todenhöfer berichtet, dass gegen ihn wegen Äußerungen in sozialen Netzwerken ein Beschluss für Hausdurchsuchung, Leibesvisitation und Beschlagnahme vorliege, der aber nicht vollstreckt worden sei, wie Medien berichten.

08.10.2025 - 18:20 [ Middle East Eye ]

Germany: Activists brave Berlin‘s police despite last-minute ban on Gaza protest

Despite being scheduled in advance and approved by Berlin’s government, the city implemented a last-minute ban without providing an explanation.

As protesters were removed from the crowd by the police, others remained, shouting “We will not be silenced” – words that pro-Palestinian activists in Berlin have shouted countless times over the last two years.

08.10.2025 - 18:13 [ TRT Deutsch / Youtube ]

Berlin: Polizeigewalt gegen Gaza-Aktivisten

Aufnahmen aus Berlin zeigen, wie Polizisten pro-palästinensische Demonstranten gewaltsam abführen. Berichten zufolge kam es am Dienstagabend zu Polizeigewalt, nachdem eine Gaza-Demo wenige Stunden vor Beginn von der Versammlungsbehörde verboten worden war.

07.10.2025 - 01:20 [ ActionNetwork.org ]

Lift The Ban – November 2025 Action

There are signs that the authoritarian powers are cracking, the police are struggling to enforce this absurd law, with some police forces outright refusing to make arrests. International and national human rights groups, politicians and United Nations representatives have condemned both the ban and the subsequent attacks on our civil liberties. Unions are declaring that they will not recognise the ban, while over 1600 people were arrested prior to our October 4th action.

We will be holding our signs around the UK in key cities and towns, as well as converging on London for the Judicial Review Itself (25-27 November). Book time off now, and sign the form to tell us where you’ll be taking action.

We will not comply with anti-democratic laws. We call on the UK Government to Lift The Ban on Palestine Action and to end UK complicity in Israel’s genocide.

In unity, not uniformity, we join together.

07.10.2025 - 01:16 [ Common Dreams ]

UK Grants Police New Powers to Crush Peaceful Protests as Palestine Action Demonstrations Continue

Police arrested nearly 500 more pro-Palestine demonstrators on Saturday—including many Jewish activists—who participated in a protest calling for the government to “Lift the Ban” on the protest group Palestine Action, which was outlawed under Britain’s anti-terrorism law in July.

Those arrested included an 83-year-old Anglican priest, the 79-year-old daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and a 79-year-old Jewish man with terminal illness, among hundreds of others who held signs in opposition to the ban as part of a “silent vigil.”

(…=

“The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our country. However, this freedom must be balanced with the freedom of their neighbours to live their lives without fear,” said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. “Large, repeated protests can leave sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe, intimidated, and scared to leave their homes. This has been particularly evident in relation to the considerable fear within the Jewish community, which has been expressed to me on many occasions in these recent difficult days.”

04.10.2025 - 15:42 [ RealMedia.press ]

Lift The Ban

Watch this artful piece by talented filmmaker Jo Syz – a record of the ‘Lift The Ban’ protests which took place in Parliament Square last month on the 6th September.

04.10.2025 - 15:13 [ Daily Record / Youtube ]

LIVE Mass protest defying Palestine Action ban takes place in Trafalgar Square

Defend Our Juries are holding a mass action event in defiance of the ban against Palestine Action.

03.10.2025 - 22:35 [ Defend Our Juries ]

Lift the Ban: Actions

Over 1500 people so far have been arrested at Lift The Ban events for holding signs which read “I oppose genocide – I support Palestine Action”. 29 people were arrested at Parliament Square in London on July 5th, the day the ban came into effect. On the following Saturday, 46 arrests at Parliament Square took place for the same act, as well as dozens of actions in other locations across the UK.

On August 9th, over 500 people were arrested in what was reportedly the largest number of arrests for civil disobedience in recent memory. On September 6th, the number was 857 (although not all sitters were arrested on this occasion.) Almost all arrests have take place for allegedly breaching Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, under accusation of supporting a proscribed organisation. All arrestees have been released on bail.

On August 9th, over 500 people were arrested for holding signs which said ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action’ .

Around 1,500 people joined another peaceful sign-holding action on September 6th in London, with 857 arrests.

The next Lift The Ban action will take place on October 4th in London’s Trafalgar Square (relocated from Parliament Square).

03.10.2025 - 22:27 [ Defend Our Juries ]

Dear Assistant Commissioner,

(October 2, 2025)

First let us say that we utterly condemn the attack on the Jewish community in Manchester today.

This is what genuine terrorism looks like and we join with others in condemning it unreservedly.

As we have pointed out in our, sadly unacknowledged and unanswered, letters to Met Commissioner Mark Rowley, it has always been the choice of the Metropolitan Police whether or not to make arrests at our protests. Amnesty International has advised Mark Rowley that these arrests fall foul of international law and our fundamental rights.

As you know we are making two demands of the government: that it reverse the ban on a domestic protest group that poses no risk to the public; and secondly that the government take action in line with its obligations to prevent genocide.

It is unfortunate that the Home Office has not decided to rescind the ban in the wake of the ever-growing defiance and has chosen instead to put an increasing and unnecessary strain on police resources. According to your letter, it appears the political oversight in proscribing Palestine Action, which aimed to save lives in Palestine, is taking away from the police protecting the community from those who seek to take lives.

As I’m sure you will understand, the protection of our democracy and the prevention of countless deaths are critical issues. Therefore, our protest will go ahead as planned for this Saturday.

We urge you therefore to choose to prioritise protecting the community, rather than arresting those peacefully holding signs in opposition to the absurd and draconian ban of a domestic direct action group.

We hope you make the right choice to not arrest those taking part, and correctly deploy counter-terrorism resources this weekend.

Please understand that some 1,500 people have given deep consideration to committing to this nonviolent action which, as the Met has repeatedly pointed out, comes with serious risks. We hope you respect our fundamental right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression.

Yours sincerely,

Defend Our Juries