Remember: legal does not also mean right.

JVL Introduction

Another important piece about the proscription of Palestine Action; opposed by several Human Rights organisations such as Amnesty and, indeed, by the United Nations.  It matters for many reasons; it is an assault on democracy and it is an attempt to silence pro Palestinian voices by making us fearful and to weaken the movement for justice for Palestine; a movement that is solid, with local demonstrations, rallies, fundraisers and more taking place up and down the country.  While you might expect this in larger cities with radical histories such as Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester there are also active local branches of Palestine Solidarity Campaign in what are perhaps more unexpected places such as Canterbury and – yes – even Tunbridge Wells.

The proscription came into force at 00.01 this morning.  Within minutes the Palestine Action website was taken down and within hours Police arrested more than 20 protesters on suspicion of terror offences at a peaceful and static demonstration. Among those arrested are an 83 year old priest and a Green Councillor.

It is worth noting that the Terrorism Act 2000 was brought in by a Labour government which included the designation of “serious damage to property” as possible terrorism.  Concerns at the draconian sentences that could be given for merely supporting such groups were raised at the time and many sought a distinction between threats and risks to people and damage to property for which other laws such as Criminal Damage could apply.  The then Home Secretary Jack Straw was keen to reassure those raising concerns and, indeed, was at pains to distinguish between terrorism and civil disobedience, however disruptive. Clause 1 of the Act defined terrorism as action “designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public,” which involved “serious violence against a person,” “serious damage to property,” or actions that “endanger life.”  But, crucially, the threshold was not intended to be low.”  (See Here from Action on Armed Violence and here from the Guardian).

This is the situation that this government, ostensibly led by a Human Right lawyer has used. This article notes that “To ban a group, a home secretary only has to demonstrate a belief that it is connected to terrorism, not proof on a balance of probabilities or beyond reasonable doubt. Some Conservative MPs wanted to use these provisions against groups such as Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain, but the previous government pulled back from doing so (…). A Labour government, desperate to shore up its security credentials, jumped right in.”

There is a well known meme that notes that legality and illegality is not necessarily the mark of a moral society or a democratic one; it notes, as I recall, that the murder by Nazis in the ghettoes and death camps was legal, hiding Ann Frank and her family was not and that owning people under the system of chattel slavery was legal while helping enslaved people to escape was  not.

Meanwhile in the past week hundreds more people have been killed in Gaza, whole communities displaced in the Jordan Valley, the refugee camp in Tulkarm is being bulldozed, settlers attack the villages in the South Hebron Hills on a daily basis and the Palestinians under attack are being arrested. The proscription of Palestine Action and the attempts to criminalise leaders such as Chris Nineham of Stop the War and Ben Jamal of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign who will face trial in another attack on the movement (this was scheduled for 7th and 8th July but has been postponed).

LL

This article was originally published by Open Democracy on Fri 4 Jul 2025. Read the original here.