Legal Scrutiny over banning Palestine Action

JVL Introduction

Craig Murray (a former UK Ambassador) follows a number of court actions with a forensic eye in addition to making Freedom of Information Requests, one of which in relation to the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action, contributes much of the information in this Substack post.

He outlines what has been happening to activists and the proscription in courts including the attempts to prevent Juries from having the full picture, eg of the motivation of those who participated in Palestine Action.  He notes that Juries have usually found the defendants not guilty, at least of some of the most serious charges. He shows that some things stated as facts in considering proscription are simply not true and also considers why there is a hold up in a decision on the ban in the Scottish Courts.

He also summarises aspects of the government’s role and while we would not agree with Murray that the then Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, is “owned by the Israel lobby”, that there is strong influence from that quarter is clear.

It is a dangerous situation for democracy and activism which will be further compounded if proposals to reduce Jury trials are implemented.

(Craig Murray was the British Ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2002 – 2004 during which period he exposed that country’s human rights violations. This led to the Foreign Office removing him from his post after which he became a political activist. His experience influenced his commitment to oppose torture and its use to gain intelligence for being both wrong and unreliable.)

LL

This article was originally published by Savage Minds on Fri 29 May 2026. Read the original here.