HUNDREDS of people are to risk arrest in Liverpool this weekend, calling for Andy Burnham to lift the ban on Palestine Action.
Defend Our Juries (DOJ) is gearing up to host a mass, silent sign-holding vigil in the city, planned to coincide with the Labour Party Conference's opening day on Sunday.
Organisers say "several hundred" are expected to turn out and will begin to write seven words which could lead to their arrest under the Terrorism Act.
On a sign, they'll write: "I OPPOSE GENOCIDE, I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION".
A spokesperson for DOJ said: "We will be peacefully sitting outside the Labour Conference.
"Because if Prime Minister Andy Burnham means what he says, that he plans to end Britain’s complicity in Israel’s horrific crimes, then he would stop the arrests of people peacefully demonstrating against the genocide and the authoritarian attempts to crush its opponents."
Palestine Action was formally proscribed in July last year, and so far there have been around 3,600 arrests of protesters under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, including many older people.
Annie Wimbush, 81, a psychotherapist from Suffolk, is due to take part in the protest, and said: “The proscription of Palestine Action by Starmer’s government shows a shameful loss of moral courage, a dangerous willingness to undermine free speech and manipulate the justice system, whilst in blatant violation of international law and humanitarian rights.
"Opposing genocide when our government refuses to do so is not terrorism. I consider it to be a duty as a humanitarian to continue to do so until the proscription is lifted.”
While the UK has imposed targeted sanctions on individuals and entities linked to settlement expansion in the West Bank, pressure is mounting to do more.
DOJ is one of multiple groups expected to stage a protest at various points across the party conference.
Others include Stop the War Coalition, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Friends of Al‑Aqsa, and the Campaign Against Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
These groups are united in their aims to demand the UK Government officially recognise Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide based on UN commission findings and push for a full arms embargo and comprehensive sanctions package on Israel.
An August survey by Survation for LabourList found that seven in ten Labour members believed the government was wrong to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group.
Carolyn Gelenter, 68, a retired teacher from London, who will also hold the sign on Sunday, said: “I am the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.
"While Ed Miliband's directives are historic, Andy Burnham's government needs to act by stopping all arms trade to Israel.
"The new PM needs to listen to alternative Jewish voices, to stop the slide into fascism and recognise the legitimacy of Palestine Action and their supporters.”
