A PETITION to “defend the right to protest” and stop the proscription of the campaign group Palestine Action has hit a major milestone.
The petition, launched by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, is calling on the Home Office to immediately halt its plans for the proscription of Palestine Action and has urged MPs to publicly oppose and vote against the proposed plans.
Last month, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to ban the group after they claimed responsibility for breaking into RAF Brize Norton, where they sprayed red paint into the engines of two aircraft, in protest of the UK’s part in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The Home Secretary is expected to publish a written statement to lay out the order to make membership and support for the direct-action group illegal.
If approved, it would become a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The petition has now gathered more than 67,700 signatures.
It states that the Home Secretary’s proposal to proscribe Palestine Action as terrorists is part of a “wider crackdown on those protesting for Palestinian rights”.
The supporting statement continued: “This step undermines all our civil liberties and democratic freedoms and risks creating a chilling effect on advocacy for Palestinian rights across British society, and on other campaigns for human rights and against war.
“The Home Secretary has based her proscription on allegations of criminal damage against property. Spray painting warplanes is not terrorism. Palestine Action aims to prevent violence against people by interrupting the flow of weapons used in brutal violence against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, widely understood to be crimes against humanity.
“The British government should not be using counter-terrorism laws as a political weapon to criminalise dissent. The vast majority of British society opposes Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people, as do human rights groups, legal authorities and broader civil society across the world.”
The statement added: “Instead of fulfilling its obligations under international law to prevent genocide, the government is attempting to criminalise people who demand justice for Palestinians. This comes at a time when Israel is continuing its relentless bombing campaign against the people of Gaza, including daily massacres of starving people gathered to collect much-needed aid.”
An urgent hearing was held in the High Court on Monday related to an application for judicial review on behalf of one of the founders of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori.
Supporting statements have also been submitted by Amnesty International, Liberty and European Legal Support Centre over concerns of unlawful misuse of anti-terror measures to criminalise dissent, a spokesperson for Palestine Action said.
A further hearing will be held on Friday to decide whether the Government can temporarily be blocked from banning the group, pending a hearing to decide whether Palestine Action can bring the legal challenge.
