The Met Police could be “tested to the limit” as hundreds are urged to declare support for Palestine Action in central London this weekend.
Protesters are being urged to turn up en masse to test whether the state can respond to such a big endorsement for the recently proscribed terror group, with organisers saying “there is safety in numbers”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s decided to proscribe Palestine Action under anti-terror laws after the group claimed responsibility for damaging two Voyager planes at RAF Brize Norton on June 20.
The ban means that membership of, or support for, the direct action group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
But last week Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori won a bid to bring a High Court challenge over the group’s ban as a terror organisation.
The Telegraph reports that more than 200 people have been arrested for expressing support for the group since July 5.
Saturday’s protest has been coordinated by a number of groups, including Cage International and Defend Our Juries.
At a pro-Palestine event in Birmingham last week, Moazzam Begg, the former Guantanamo Bay detainee, called on the Muslim community to join in the act of defiance and declare their support for Palestine Action.
At a meeting attended by the Telegraph, he told supporters: “I would urge everybody to join the action of the 9th of August. That is the first step to take for the resistance.
“Those from the Muslim community, we have a massive presence in this city, and we must engage our leaders, our Imams, our habibs, those in positions of power, to join, there is strength in numbers, stop being a coward, cowards never win battles.”
A briefing document, drafted by Defend Our Juries, told supporters that “joining this campaign comes with risk”.
But added: “It would be practically and politically difficult for the state to respond to an action on this scale.
“Even assuming it had the physical capacity to arrest so many people on the same day, the political fallout from such an operation would be incalculable, causing irreparable damage to the reputation of the Government and the police.”
The group added that it believes that the state does not have the capacity to charge and prosecute a further 500 people and that the ban on Palestine Action would have to be lifted.
The document added: “ There’s safety in numbers and there’s the promise of being part of a historic moment in facing down the repression of the genocidal state.”
A former police officer also told the Telegraph that cells could quickly fill up due to the protest.
Graham Wettone said: “There are a limited number of custody cell spaces available in London and as we saw a couple of years ago with Just Stop Oil, these can fill up quickly.
“The Met may seek to take some of those arrested outside of the capital but there is no doubt that if thousands of people turn up and take part it will test the system to the limit. Simply put, they will not be able to arrest and process everyone.”
It comes as the crown court backlog in England and Wales has risen to a new record high, passing 75,000 cases for the first time.
The courts backlog is understood to be at a 25-year high, with about 77,000 cases waiting to be heard and some trials being listed for 2027.
