‘We’re All Normal People’: Cambridge Protesters Arrested Opposing Palestine Action Proscription
On 29 November, 15 people were arrested in Cambridge’s Market Square during a nationwide protest organised by Defend Our Juries (DOJ). The demonstration formed part of a coordinated action held across 18 towns and cities between 25-27 November, coinciding with the judicial review of the government’s ban on Palestine Action.
A protester’s sign / Mila Edensor for TCS
Saturday’s actions marked the largest wave so far, with protests taking place in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester, Birmingham, Cambridge, Bristol, Sheffield, Exeter and Lancaster.
Police officers were already present in the market ahead of the protest’s 1pm start. Arrests began roughly 30 minutes in.
Protesters sat on the ground holding signs reading “I Oppose Genocide, I Support Palestine Action”. Onlookers watched as officers periodically entered the seated group to make arrests. The market’s typical footfall was interrupted by repeated instructions to clear the street for incoming vans. Upon the arrival of a police vehicle, those arrested were taken into the back and driven away - many appeared to be older people. DOJ welfare coordinators said police informed them that detainees were being transported to Peterborough.
Officers taking a man into a police vehicle / Mila Edensor for TCS
Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in June by then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper - the first time a direct-action group has been designated as such in British history. The proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000 means the group has been added to a list that also includes armed organisations like al-Qaeda and ISIS. Amnesty International states that more than 2,100 arrests have taken place since the decision, targeting individuals peacefully protesting the proscription.
A DOJ spokesperson told TCS: “We're protesting because we're people of conscience, and we're seeing evidence that our government is complicit in the genocide in Gaza. They’re supplying weapons to Israel, and we're standing up against that because we stand against genocide.”
Asked about the backgrounds of those involved, they added: “I know somebody here who's a retired carer; someone else who was a doctor; another who’s a retired vicar. I’ve been arrested myself in a past protest - I was a primary school teacher and an artist, and I'm a grandmother. We're all normal people.”
An elderly woman is surrounded by several officers during her arrest / Mila Edensor for TCS
During one arrest, officers escorted an older woman wrapped in a silver thermal blanket into a van. When TCS asked a nearby officer why she was being detained, he said, “No comment.” Cambridgeshire Police have since been contacted for further information.
In past protests, arresting officers have cited Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which states that carrying and displaying articles which depict support for a proscribed organisation is a criminal offence.
As the arrests took place, supporting individuals held signs reading ‘Lift The Ban’, and ‘Cambridge for Palestine’. Arrests were punctuated by songs and carols - with crowds applauding each individual as they were led into the back of a police van.
One woman, seated on the ground with a sign, told TCS: “We're protesting the proscription of Palestine Action. We're protesting in defence of our own freedom of speech and right to expression. And we're protesting ultimately a genocide that is being perpetrated by our own government and other governments, and paid for with our tax money.”
An elderly woman is taken into the back of a police van / Mila Edensor for TCS
The Campaign Against Arms Trade reports extensive UK ties to Israeli military infrastructure, including arms sales, RAF reconnaissance flights, intelligence sharing and the training of Israeli soldiers. As of October, 1 in 33 people in Gaza had been killed.
The DOJ spokesperson told TCS: “Palestine Action were, in my view, illegally proscribed in July as a terrorist organisation. There's a judicial review happening at present, and we're going to see if that ban will be overturned.”
The judicial review has itself been contentious. Just before Mr Justice Chamberlain was due to hear the case, he was replaced at the last minute by a panel of three judges. When questioned, The Ministry of Justice referred The Guardian to its press office, which declined to comment. Doubts have been raised as to the panel’s impartiality: a spokesperson for the Campaign Against Arms Trade told Novara Media: “It is […] concerning that his replacement has family links to banks and other institutions targeted by Palestine Action because of their connections to the arms trade and their complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”
Reflecting on policing at the Cambridge action, the spokesperson added: “The police have been polite, but honestly, they're blinking puppets. They've been told what to do and they're just doing it.”
An officer watches the demonstration / Mila Edensor for TCS
When asked what they thought the group's proscription meant for democracy, they replied:
“Total oppression. If you look at Jack Straw - the Home Secretary who passed the Terrorism Act - he stood in Parliament saying this was absolutely not about stopping peaceful protest in this country. People from across parties said: what about this, what about that? And he said ‘No, it won’t happen.’ Well, this is exactly what we are seeing today.”