Stop the War Condemns Further Repression of Palestine Movement
Five of Defend Our Juries’ key spokespeople have been arrested ahead of Saturday’s protest for Palestine.
This morning counter-terrorism police raided the homes of five of Defend Our Juries’ key spokespeople, taking them into custody under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
These arrests took place just before DOJ Founder Tim Crosland was due to hold a press conference announcing that this Saturday’s Lift the Ban protest against the ‘terror’ ban on Palestine Action will proceed, with 1,000 people having pledged to hold signs saying ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action’.
Stop the war condemns this assault on the Palestine movement and the democratic right to protest. This attack marks the latest in a dystopian trend of increased state repression targeting the leaders of peaceful protest movements supporting Palestine. On the January 18th national Gaza demonstration Stop the War Vice-Chair Chris Nineham was violently arrested and taken into custody, and Palestine Solidarity Campaign Director Ben Jamal was charged the following day. Both are currently awaiting trial, which has been postponed to February 2026.
Stop the War’s chair Alex Kenny and CND’s General Secretary Sophie Bolt also face trials.
This Saturday 6th September, Stop the War and the Palestine Coalition will once again mobilise hundreds of thousands of people to march through London to protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, to demand the UK government stop arming Israel, and to defend the right to protest.
