High Court ruled in February<\/a> that the UK\u2019s ban on Palestine Action as a \u201cterrorist\u201d organisation was unlawful, it is still illegal to show support for the group as the government prepares for an appeal due to take place later this month.<\/p>\n\u2018Charges in connection with social media post\u2019<\/p>\n
Counterterrorism police on Monday said that Zuhrah\u2019s latest charge was \u201cencouraging or assisting\u201d the commission of an offence, \u201cnamely criminal damage\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe charges are in connection with posts made on social media,\u201d the force said.<\/p>\n
Zuhrah was granted bail again on Tuesday. She is due to appear in court on April 17.<\/p>\n
She is a member of the so-called \u201cFilton 24\u201d collective, accused of breaking into a weapons factory in Filton, Bristol belonging to Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of Israel\u2019s largest weapons manufacturer, in August 2024.<\/p>\n
In Corno\u2019s latest case, she was also released hours after being arrested for a second time.<\/p>\n
Naila Ahmed, head of campaigns at CAGE International, said, Zuhrah\u2019s \u201crearrest\u201d is a continuation of the \u201cactive repression\u201d targeting pro-Palestine activists across the UK.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese laws were not misapplied or stretched beyond their intent \u2013 they were designed precisely to criminalise political speech and dissent, and that is exactly what they are doing here,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cTerrorism legislation should be abolished in its entirety. It has never been a tool of public protection \u2013 it is and has always been a tool of political control, used to police those who challenge state power and silence those who speak out against injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corno was previously accused of offences related to a June 2024 break-in at the Wooburn Green, Buckinghamshire facility of GRiD Defence Systems, which Palestine Action said supplies the Israeli military \u2013 a charge denied by the company.<\/p>\n
She believes officials are using \u201cintimidation tactics\u201d because several charges against Palestine Action-linked activists have been dropped and dozens of them have been released on bail. All Filton 24 activists, for example, have been acquitted of aggravated burglary, and 23 have been freed from prison.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a reaction to the acquittals and zero convictions in the Filton 24 case so far,\u201d Corno said. \u201cTake direct action\u201d is not a contentious thing to say, she argued.<\/p>\n
\u201cDirect actionists who either are released on bail as they should be, or found not guilty, are still being heavily surveilled and heavily repressed by the state as a reminder, that although the public may find us not guilty, the state does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week, Zuhrah and other Filton 24 defendants spoke about alleged prison mistreatment and said they were planning to take legal action over medical neglect.<\/p>\n
Campaigners supporting the group said, \u201cWe believe this is a coordinated campaign by the state to retaliate [after failing] to secure a single conviction at the first trial of the Filton 24. There is no doubt that this arrest was politically motivated, as it is unprecedented to charge people under the Serious Crime Act\u201d.<\/p>\n
The detentions come at a time of increasing friction between the police and Britain\u2019s significant Palestine solidarity movement \u2013 and ahead of a march that could bring new tensions.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, crowds of protesters are expected to gather again in London to demonstrate their support for Palestine Action as the genocide in Gaza continues. To date, thousands of peaceful protesters have been arrested for signs reading: \u201cI oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action\u201d.<\/p>\n
While London\u2019s Met Police refrained from detaining protesters following the High Court\u2019s ruling, the force recently reversed that policy, meaning mass arrests are once again likely.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a court is expected on Wednesday to rule in the case of Palestine Solidarity Campaign\u2019s Ben Jamal and Stop the War Coalition\u2019s Chris Nineham, who are accused of breaching protest restrictions in January 2025.<\/p>\n
Since Israel\u2019s onslaught on Gaza began in October 2023, tens of thousands of Britons have rallied in support of Palestine.<\/p>\n
According to YouGov polling, one in three Britons has \u201cno sympathy at all for the Israeli side in the conflict\u201d after Israel killed more than 72,000 people in two years and decimated the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n
The government, led by Labour leader Keir Starmer, has long been accused of cracking down on pro-Palestine solidarity because of a wave of arrests during demonstrations and due to its proscription of Palestine Action.<\/p>\n
Human Rights Watch has said that its research found a \u201cdisproportionate targeting of certain groups, including climate change activists and Palestine protesters, undermining the right to protest freely and without fear of harassment\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"London, United Kingdom \u2013 Civil rights groups and Palestine solidarity campaigners are accusing the United Kingdom of \u201cintimidation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[54,37,497,42,975,691],"class_list":{"0":"post-45455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-europe","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-prison","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116325427613675637","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}