News from Sheffield Defend our Juries
29th November was the United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people since 1977. A rally was held in Tudor Square to mark the occasion on Saturday, and Sheffield and Rotherham Councils flew the Palestinian flag for the day.
Meanwhile, at a moving event outside Sheffield Cathedral, 17 silent protesters were arrested under terrorism legislation for holding a sign saying “I oppose Genocide, I support Palestine Action”. Around a hundred drenched supporters watched, singing We shall Overcome, cheering and thanking those arrested.
This was one of many similar events in towns and cities across the country, some of which resulted in arrests and others didn’t. Over 2,350 people have been arrested for holding signs as part of the Lift The Ban campaign so far, but remarkably, the media have been choosing not to report them. If they were all put in prison, they would completely fill two jails.
Protesters from Sheffield and the surrounding area joined a UK-wide wave of actions around the Judicial Review of the government’s proscription of Palestine Action as “a terrorist organisation”. Protests occurred in 18 towns and cities across every nation in the UK from 18–29 November, in what the group described as “the most widespread civil disobedience campaign in modern British history.” Protesters were arrested under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, an offence which carries a maximum six months’ prison sentence. They were later released on bail.
The latest wave of actions also coincides with the Prisoners for Palestine rolling hunger strike, launched on 2 November, with six prisoners so far, including Heba in New Hall prison near Wakefield, refusing food in protest against prolonged imprisonment without trial. Two are now so ill they have been hospitalised.
Rachel, who was arrested on Saturday, said:
“I find it incredible that we have Israeli weapons companies on UK soil that are manufacturing weapons being used in the genocide of the Palestinian people. The people who are trying to shut down these factories are not terrorists – they are the best of humanity, and I have a duty to speak out.”
A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries, who organised the Lift The Ban protests, said:
“The chorus of condemnation against the ban continues to grow, as does the number of principled people standing up against the government’s authoritarian overreach.”
“These historic mobilisations will honour those already imprisoned for risking everything to disrupt the flow of arms to Israel. The Filton 24 and Brize Norton 5 must be granted immediate bail and full access to the evidence they need to defend themselves.”
“These actions were in solidarity with the people of Gaza and the West Bank. Both Conservative and Labour governments have been shamefully complicit in the horrors continuing to unfold in Palestine, and the use of counter-terrorism legislation to silence their critics must end now.”
Notes
In October, the UN published a draft report titled “Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime”, detailing UK complicity in Israel’s actions, including the continued supply of arms and surveillance support.
Actions in cities all across the UK and hunger strikes announced in “most widespread mass civil disobedience in modern UK history”
https://docs.google.com/document/d/157JnI3zwjFno3IUPZyuPB9PffCycnSLgtKhqx8Vj8Lg/edit?tab=t.0
Five UN Special Rapporteurs write to the UK Government, calling the ban disproportionate:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Sv6lyC-HKt1ZFNF5Il7QK8MepQIJRB4H-9_A8gVJk8U/edit?tab=t.0
Independent commission of legal experts and politicians criticise the process used in the proscription of the group:
Advisers told ministers banning Palestine Action could be seen as an overstep:
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