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LONDON, Sept. 6, 2025 – Protesters planning a exhibition in London today against the ban on Palestine Action intend to withhold their details from officers. This tactic aims to overwhelm police processing capabilities, making mass arrests “practically impossible.”
- Protesters plan to withhold identification to disrupt police arrests.
- The protest in London on Sept. 6 aims for 1,000 participants.
- Over 2,500 people have expressed interest in participating.
- A recent protest saw 532 arrests, with many processed via “street bail.”
- 70% of Labor members reportedly oppose the ban on Palestine Action.
Demonstrators are prepared to stay indefinitely to protest the ban on Palestine Action.
The pressure group Defend Our Juries, organizing the protest, is seeking 1,000 participants for the London demonstration. This would mark the largest protest as Palestine Action was banned in June. More then 2,500 individuals have already indicated their interest.
Earlier this month, 532 people were arrested at a demonstration related to Palestine Action. The Metropolitan Police reported that 212 of those arrested were taken to police stations for refusing to provide details or for being on bail. The remaining 320 were arrested and released on bail after providing their facts at temporary processing points near Parliament Square.
Those officially joining the Sept. 6 demonstration are asked to sign an online pledge, acknowledging the risk of arrest and legal consequences. The pledge states commitment to attending the “mass-participation sign-holding action on 6 September 2025.” Participants are also advised to disregard “street bail,” a process were individuals are processed and bailed roadside, expected to report to a station later. Instead, the strategy encourages not providing any details, necessitating transport to a police station for processing.
A briefing for committed attendees emphasizes that widespread insistence on being taken to a police station, ensuring immediate legal advice, would have limited the police’s ability to conduct numerous arrests in past events.
“The police were only able to arrest as many people as they did because of their trick of using ‘street bail’ on a mass scale,” stated Tim Crosland, a spokesperson for Defend Our Juries. He added that if 1,000 people pledge to participate and hundreds insist on their right to immediate free legal advice at a police station, the process will be exposed. Crosland believes that making arrests practically impossible for 1,000 participants could render the ban unenforceable, likening it to the poll tax protests of 1990.
While the most recent demonstration lasted an hour, Defend Our Juries indicated that the Sept. 6 protest will continue indefinitely. Participants are encouraged to remain in place until arrested to maintain group solidarity.
A poll conducted on Monday found that seven in 10 labour members believe the goverment was wrong to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group. The group was banned after activists entered RAF Brize norton and spray-painted two military aircraft.
Former cabinet minister Peter Hain recently commented that the UK government is “digging itself into a hole” over the Palestine Action ban. He suggested that fellow Labour peers and MPs regret their votes to ban the group. Hain, one of three Labour members in the House of Lords who voted against the ban in July, co-authored a piece arguing that the current approach neither protects protest nor makes it policeable.
Crosland criticized the government’s use of policing resources to “criminalize cardboard sign-holding against genocide,” noting widespread condemnation. He also pointed to the Labour party’s opposition, with over 70% of members against the ban, and claims that some MPs feel misled.
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