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Pro-Palestine Organizations in Britain have reacted sharply to the government’s plans to give new powers to the police impose conditions on repeated performancesCalled it a “blatant attack” on the right to protest.
They have vowed to continue the protest, saying peace agreement US President’s mediation donald trump Unresolved several issues that continue to bother Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The ceasefire already appears fragile, with each side accusing the other of breaking it, hours after the release of the last surviving hostages on Monday.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood Announced earlier this month Police forces will be given new powers to impose tougher conditions on protests, taking into account the “cumulative effect” of previous similar protests.
talking to IndependentBen Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), described the move as “another blatant attack on the fundamental right to protest”.
He added, “This has potentially huge implications. It could mean, for example, ‘You’ve already protested once, you can’t protest again.’
Mr Jamal highlighted the lack of clarity over how police are already enforcing protest restrictions. He claimed that the police had earlier cited the “cumulative effect” of blocking protest routes where synagogues were around the march.
He said the Palestine Coalition, a network of six groups that have organized recent marches and protests for Palestine, is prepared to challenge the new rules in the courts.
He added: “The implications are really wide but they are aimed specifically at our movement.
“We also know that what has happened over the last two years is extraordinary, there has not been such a sustained number of protests since the suffrage movement that we have been able to inspire.
“This is responding to an absolutely unique situation, which is a livestreamed genocide, and our government’s continued complicity in it.”
Israel has strongly denied claims that it is carrying out genocide in Gaza.
A wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations has spread to London and other major cities since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023. Although they have been largely peaceful, some critics say the demonstrations have allowed anti-Semitism to spread, with some British Jews saying they feel threatened by chants such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.
Thousands of people gathered in central London for a demonstration organized by the Palestine Coalition on Saturday, the day after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into force. The PSC has announced further protest action, including mass walkouts on university campuses on Thursday and a boycott of Barclays Bank on Saturday.
Ms Mahmood has proposed changes to sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to allow authorities to take into account the cumulative effect of persistent or repeated protests when deciding to impose conditions such as changes to the route or timing of events.
He stressed that the move is not a ban on protests, but “about restrictions and conditions”, adding that repeated mass pro-Palestinian protests have created “a lot of fear” for the Jewish community.
No timeline has been given for when the new rules will come into effect. Ms Mahmood said a review of the current protest law was underway, and would include considering powers to ban protests altogether. Under current law, police can ban a march altogether if there is a serious risk of public disorder.
Lindsay German, national coordinator of the Stop the War coalition and a member of the Palestine Coalition, argued that Ms Mahmoud’s argument for greater curbs on protest laws made no sense.
“The whole question of cumulative impact, if you think about any performance, they’re meant to make an impact,” he explained. Independent,
“I first went to a demonstration in South Africa when I was a teenager. And I went to my last demonstration in South Africa probably 30 years later. Their purpose is to be effective, their purpose is to highlight an issue that hasn’t been resolved.”
Ms German acknowledged that the ceasefire marked a turning point in the conflict, but said it did not remove the need for continued demonstrations. He argued that the peace plan lacked clarity and failed to address key issues, including justice for those responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in Gaza, the ongoing oppression of Palestinians, and increasing violence in the West Bank.
“We are assuming that we will continue to perform over the next few months… We think that is very, very likely,” he said. “We are very concerned about the rules making the law more restrictive and we feel that, in fact, there are too many restrictions on demonstrations… We fear that it is becoming harder to protest in London.
“We don’t know what the exact impact will be, it gives the police too much control over what you can and can’t do. Either way, it’s a denial of our right to protest.”
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.