The attack on the right to protest in the UK is not just about Palestine
JVL Introduction
Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Chris Nineham, vice chair of Stop the War Coalition, were both found guilty today of breaching the Public Order Act 1986.
You can read a good report in the Guardian here, in Novara Media here, and the PSC statement here.
It is a shocking decision and will be appealed. But, in the meantime, it is another nail in the coffin of the right to freedom of expression and assembly.
In this article published shortly before the verdict was announced, Feyzi Ismail summarises the growing efforts by successive British governments to roll back our rights.
As Ismail says:
“The imposition of tougher legislation was introduced in response to climate protesters and anti-monarchy protesters. Now it is being reinforced over Palestine protest. But it is clear that it won’t stop there.”
RK
This article was originally published by Al Jazeera on Tue 31 Mar 2026. Read the original here.
The attack on the right to protest in the UK is not just about Palestine
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Steinberg lets see.. Judge Sternberg is a member of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in the UK, which elects deputies to the Board of Deputies. The BoD tells u everything you need to know why this was a direct conflict of interest and a racist decision.
The author concludes that “Whatever the outcome of Jamal and Nineham’s trial on April 1, there needs to be a society-wide mobilisation to defend the rights to free speech and assembly. This is no longer just about the Palestinian cause, but about British democracy”. I thoroughly agree, except that to say that the Palestinian cause has long been a struggle to defend British democracy. This was apparent with the use of antisemitism smears to destroy the Corbynist left in the Labour Party, the CFI-inspired coup against Sir Alan Duncan in the Tory Party, and actions against individuals like Jenny Tonge and David Ward in the Lib Dems. It was a mistake to see this simply as a problem for the left, even though left-wingers had to bear the worst of the slings and arrows.
It is horrifying that the UK is part of the alliance that supports genocide, and through this, is prepared to sacrifice our democratic rights along with the rights of the world to stand up for justice. This is beyond race, tribe, political allegiance but a matter of foundational and universal human values.
Shame on our ‘establishment’!
NB the ‘Jewish Leadership Council’ , which apparently succeeded in forcing the police to set such narrow conditions on the marchers – essentially kettling us into a few yards of Whitehall – is an UNELECTED, SELF APPOINTED body. The JLC does not even have the tenuous claim to represent the Jewish community that the Board of Deputies can claim (the BoD being at least ‘elected’ , though only by some voters from one particular group of synagogues).
Only to add the role of the media (eg Global Radio) in colluding with this so called Jewish representation and influence of government.