Around 1,000 people sat on Trafalgar Square on Saturday 4 October, with handwritten signs that say “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” in what is the biggest ever defiance of the ban on Palestine Action. They were, of course, out with Defend Our Juries.
Whilst they were sitting peacefully holding cardboard signs, the names of 18,500 Palestinian children slaughtered by Israel were read out, one by one. Due to the lengthy and growing list of killed Palestinian children, it is unlikely all of their names will be read out by the end of the vigil.
However, once again the cops were on hand to enforce the Zionist UK state’s authoritarian agenda – with mass arrests and heavy-handedness witnessed by the Canary once more.
Defend Our Juries out once again
The Canary’s on-the-ground team were there during the sit in at Trafalgar Square. From 1pm there were already well over 1,000 people at the demo:
Accordingly, the police presence was large – but seemingly not as big as on previous Defend Out Juries protests:
Despite once again the preposterous nature of of the policing of what are peaceful demonstrators, cops began arresting people almost immediately:
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Defend Our Juries said of this:
Over 1,000 people, including the elderly, vicars, children of holocaust survivors, peace activists and more, are each peacefully and silently holding a sign which says “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”.
If the police make the political decision to arrest them, they will face charges under the Terrorism Act, a risk they’re willing to take in order to protect our democracy and oppose the escalating Gaza genocide. We hope the police make the sensible and correct decision to not arrest peaceful protestors and instead dedicate their resources to protecting the community.
Indeed – the Canary witnessed multiple older people being carried off once again:
Cops were forcibly dragging older people up off the floor:
In one case, an older man appeared to be unwell – possibly due to the actions of the police – as they were having to put him into the recovery position:
But it was clear the police were stretched.
Earlier, chair of the Police Federation Paul Dodds admitted this, saying:
Enough is enough.
Our concentration should be on keeping people safe at a time when the country is on heightened alert from a terrorist attack. And instead officers are being drawn in to facilitate these relentless protests. There aren’t enough of us… What are the politicians and senior police officers going to do about it?
You could of course, not join the police in the first place Mr Dodds.
However, for many cops they seem to enjoy it – or at least, think they’re in a Hollywood movie:
Meanwhile, Zionist agitators were present:
Overall, the Canary once again witnessed heavy handedness, overreach, and unnecessary use of powers by the cops – who are all complicit in the UK state’s support for Israel’s genocide.
Widespread criticism
The proscription of Palestine Action has drawn criticism from across the political spectrum, and has led to the chilling effect of freedom of speech in Britain. The unprecedented decision to ban a domestic direct action group was solely based on “serious property damage”, taking away resources from dealing with terrorists who pose a genuine threat to the public.
Defend Our Juries unreservedly condemned the vicious attack in Manchester and called it “real terrorism”. The Met police asked for the silent protest to be postponed, due to a lack of police resources. In response, Defend Our Juries urged the police 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.”
Police have the discretion not to arrest people taking part in today’s silent vigil, as other forces in Edinburgh, Derry, Totnes, and Kendal have chosen to not arrest peaceful protestors holding the same sign saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
Defend Our Juries said that cancelling a peaceful protest to defend our democracy and oppose violence and oppression would be to “let terror win”.
Zack Polanski previously said of this:
I think its really problematic if someone is trying to weaponise the attack that happened yesterday to try and silence protest in this country against the genocide. They’re separate issues… we need to be clear what this government is doing.
During his speech at the Green Party conference, he also called for the immediate withdrawal of the Palestine Action proscription and reiterated his support for Defend Our Juries.
The wrong kind of Jews supporting Defend Our Juries
Jews who regularly take part in pro-Palestine marches released a statement about why they are taking part in today’s vigil. They expressed their concern at the Home Secretary “cynically exploiting this tragic event to fulfil a long-standing ambition of successive British Governments: to justify a ban on the mass protests against Israel’s genocide in Gaza”.
Responding to Keir Starmer’s suggestion that the action should not go ahead, Defend Our Juries supporter Zoe Cohen, who was arrested at the August action, said:
As a Jewish person born and bred in the North West I’m grieving after the appalling synagogue attack in Manchester and I feel it deeply. I’m also grieving for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been murdered, displaced and starved in Gaza. I think it’s possible for us to be compassionate and open our hearts to victims of multiple atrocities at one time.
Those who have used the attack on the Jewish community in Manchester to call for today’s vigil to be cancelled, are wrongly conflating the actions of the Israeli state with all Jews. Jewish people around the world are not responsible for Israel’s crimes and there are many Jewish people who do not support the actions of the Israeli state. Cancelling today’s vigil would have perpetuated this dangerous narrative which fuels antisemitism.
I am one of a significant number of Jewish people who have taken part in these actions because we refuse to stand by while our government enables Israel’s genocide and bans the protest group which seeks to stop that complicity by disrupting arms factories. 53 Palestinians were also killed on Thursday and they have names and stories too. Every life matters. When I was brought up learning about the Holocaust and we said “never again”, I learnt that this means “never again” for anyone.
This is getting ridiculous
A spokesperson from Defend Our Juries said:
The huge political misstep made by Yvette Cooper and the Labour cabinet, has led to counter-terrorism resources being wasted on criminalising those who seek to save lives in Palestine, rather than focusing on those who seek to take lives. The danger of the proscription not only to our rights to free speech and protest, but to the safety of the public at large, was completely foreseeable and forewarned. Yet, in order to appease the weapons industry and lobby groups, the unprecedented, dangerous and unforgivable decision was made to proscribe a domestic direct action group.
The genocide is continuing to escalate in Gaza, with dozens of Palestinians slaughtered every single day, and British citizens being recently kidnapped from the flotilla whilst trying to bring aid into Gaza. The situation has never been more urgent, and today’s silent protest seeks to oppose genocide and the ban of Palestine Action, a group which targeted the weapons industry to save lives in Palestine.
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By Steve Topple
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