The delivery of the letter on Tuesday coincides with a protest organised under the slogan Proscribe Genocide, Not Protest. The rally outside Downing Street is expected to draw hundreds of participants, including figures from Britain\u2019s Jewish community.<\/p>\n
The letter, signed by about 300 Jewish British citizens, condemns the ban as \u201cillegitimate and unethical\u201d and calls for urgent government action against Israel over its conduct of the war in the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip and over escalating violence engulfing the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n
![\"ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS\/BRITAIN-PALESTINE](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-07-30T124641Z_1415710086_RC20XFAR4UW8_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-BRITAIN-PALESTINE-ACTION-17.jpeg\")
A demonstrator holds a placard outside London\u2019s High Court as judges decide whether the cofounder of Palestine Action may challenge the government\u2019s ban on the group [File: Toby Melville\/Reuters]<\/p>\n
Among the signatories are human rights lawyer Geoffrey Bindman, filmmaker Mike Leigh, author Michael Rosen and writer Gillian Slovo. Jenny Manson, chairperson of Jewish Voice for Labour and one of the lead organisers, said the group was acting both as human beings and as Jews with a moral obligation to oppose genocide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are Jews horrified by the genocide being carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people,\u201d Manson said in a statement. \u201cFor us, \u2018Never again\u2019 does not mean only crimes against Jews but never again by anyone to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speakers at the rally include Andrew Feinstein, son of a Holocaust survivor and former South African MP; historian Joseph Finlay; documentary filmmaker Gillian Mosely; and comedian and author Alexei Sayle.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of people in the United Kingdom have been protesting weekly against Israel\u2019s genocidal war since October 2023, making it clear they feel their voices aren\u2019t being heard.<\/p>\n
Protest despite police warning<\/p>\n
The rally comes as the rights group Defend Our Juries confirmed that more than 500 people have committed to \u201crisking arrest\u201d by participating in a related demonstration on Saturday aimed at overturning the ban on Palestine Action.<\/p>\n
Those taking part are expected to hold placards reading, \u201cI oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Metropolitan Police Service has warned that expressing support for Palestine Action could lead to arrest under the Terrorism Act 2000.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone showing support for the group can expect to be arrested,\u201d a police spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Defend Our Juries, which coordinated the campaign, rejected claims that the demonstration is intended to overwhelm law enforcement or the courts. \u201cIf we are allowed to protest peacefully and freely, then that is no bother to anyone,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
More than 200 people were arrested in protests across the UK last month for displaying the same message.<\/p>\n
The letter being delivered on Tuesday urges the UK government to move beyond \u201chandwringing\u201d over the situation in Gaza and take meaningful action.<\/p>\n
It calls for the immediate recognition of the State of Palestine and the imposition of sanctions on Israel, including suspension of the UK-Israel trade agreement, an end to all exports used by the Israeli military and the termination of UK military and intelligence collaboration with Israel.<\/p>\n
It also calls for a ban on all Israeli imports, legal accountability for UK citizens serving in the Israeli military and the summoning of Israel\u2019s ambassador to the UK for her public support of military actions.<\/p>\n
The letter states that opposing genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing in Palestine is not anti-Semitic and should not be criminalised.<\/p>\n
\u201cCriticising Israel and opposing the brutality \u2026 including taking direct action, are not terrorism,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n
Palestine Action was banned in July after a high-profile incident in which the group claimed responsibility for damaging two Voyager aircraft at the Brize Norton air force base, causing an estimated 7 million pounds ($9.3m) of damage.<\/p>\n
Last week, the High Court ruled that a legal challenge against the ban by Palestine Action cofounder Huda Ammori could proceed, citing several \u201creasonably arguable\u201d grounds for review. However, the court declined to pause the ban before a three-day hearing set for November.<\/p>\n
If upheld, the proscription means membership in or support for Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds rally near Downing Street as delegation delivers letter to UK government calling for sanctions on Israel. Leading…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[748,393,299,2194,4884,7424,12,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-322224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-gaza","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-northern-ireland","18":"tag-scotland","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114981285683838223","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}