The judgment on Friday is a major blow for former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper as well as the Israeli arms companies who lobbied for a crackdown on the group, John McEvoy, Dania Akkad and Martin Williams report.
Channel 4’s documentary dissecting the proscription of Palestine Action revealed the impetus behind it was to protect pro-Israel and pro-arms interests, but it still engaged in pro-Israel narrative traps.
Keir Starmer needs convictions to justify Palestine Action’s proscription as a terrorist group. In the Filton trial, the direct-action group’s barrister explained how jurors pose a vital defence against government tyranny.
Reporting facts in Keir Starmer’s Britain can now land you in jail for 14 years as a terrorist. This is what authoritarian governments do.
Prisoners are now in serious danger and thousands of entirely peaceful protesters in the U.K. face life-changing terrorism charges simply for speech in favor of Palestine Action.
With this prosecution, the British government hopes to legitimize its proscription of Palestine Action and deflect attention from its own sustained support for Israel’s genocide.
This looks like a stitch-up to extricate Keir Starmer and his ministers from the mess they have made of British terrorism laws — all so they can continue conspiring in Israel’s genocide.