Planned Palestine Action protest will not try to overwhelm police
Defend Our Juries said it planned to bring together at least 500 people for its planned demonstration against the ban on Saturday with organisers 'very confident' they have recruited enough participants, a spokesperson for the campaign group said.
A formal announcement will be made on Tuesday as to whether that figure has been reached and the demonstration will go ahead.
More then 200 people were arrested at a wave of protests across the UK in response to the proscription last month, as part of the campaign co-ordinated by Defend Our Juries.
Join hundreds of others on August 9th – go to https://t.co/xHyNnPti3B for full information.
This action is conditional on reaching our target of at least 500 commitments.https://t.co/vqXWFPPScY pic.twitter.com/GTkfcMM8aP
— Defend our Juries (@DefendourJuries) August 4, 2025
Many of the protesters were detained after writing and holding up the message 'I oppose genocide I support Palestine Action' on placards or pieces of cardboard.
A Defend Our Juries spokesperson told the PA news agency: 'It is wrong to characterise this (planned demonstration) as a plan to overwhelm the police and court systems.
'If we are allowed to protest peacefully and freely, then that is no bother to anyone.'
In a further statement on its website, the campaign group said the Government had 'overreached itself' by banning Palestine Action and it was 'vital' that its campaign succeeded.
People were arrested at two protests in central London last month (Yui Mok/PA)
'Our groups and movements are coming together like never before, finding unity under repression,' it added.
'By refusing to give into fear and by standing together, we will face down this assault on us all.'
No location for the protest has so far been shared, but it is understood that it will take place in London and will be the only demonstration that Defend Our Juries organises on Saturday.
The Metropolitan Police have been approached for comment.
Those interested in joining the demonstration have been asked to come to briefing calls on Tuesday or Thursday, while some have had non-violence training arranged for them, Defend Our Juries said.
The move to ban Palestine Action came after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident it subsequently claimed, which police said caused about £7 million worth of damage.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action three days later, saying that the vandalism of the planes was 'disgraceful' and the group had a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'.
A High Court ruling on Wednesday decided that Palestine Action's co-founder Huda Ammori had several 'reasonably arguable' beliefs in her challenge over the group's ban that would be heard at a three-day hearing in November, but a bid to pause the ban temporarily was refused.
The ban means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, under the Terrorism Act 2000.
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On 19 December 2022, 10 days after the action at the Welsh factory, Sgt Alex Stuart of Dyfed-Powys police, who was in charge of the investigation, sent an email to four of his superiors. He had spoken with the general manager of the factory in the UK. She had told him that a senior Teledyne executive based in the US had 'spoken to Lord Richard Dannatt about Palestine Action'. Stuart wrote: 'Lord Dannatt was chief of the army general staff. He's now a life peer. He has an invested interest [sic] in this aspect of UK trade and investment, particularly military projects. 'Essentially there have been an indication that he wants this case to be explained and he wants to have some input on it. They haven't explained exactly what he wants, however I have told them that it would not be wise to have a member of the House of Lords poking around in a live criminal case.' He added: 'I have explained that they need to establish what Lord Dannatt wants.' He wrote that if the peer was concerned in general about Palestine Action's tactics, he should talk to senior police officers at a national level. 'It's not best placed for him to actively speak with an investigation team about the matter in the way that I think he wants to.' Later that day, a DCI replied to Stuart: 'The chief constable is aware of the case and has received an update. Whilst Lord Dannatt has every right to communicate with the force regarding matters of concern, it does not mean that the matters he raises receive the response that he may want.' At the criminal trial in May 2023, James Manning, the barrister for one of the defendants, asked Stuart whether he was concerned that Dannatt was seeking to have some input into the case which at that stage was being investigated by the police as a live criminal investigation. Stuart replied: 'Yeah, to a certain extent, yes.' Manning then asked: 'And you thought that that was inappropriate … and you told [Teledyne] as much?' 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Teledyne and the general manager did not respond to a request for comment. On 22 December 2022, Dannatt had an online call with the factory's general manager and another senior member of Teledyne. Dannatt told the Guardian that Teledyne had 'contacted me to seek my assistance in raising concerns by the company to the government with regard to attacks on their premises'. He added: 'They briefed me on the Palestine Action attacks, and I then agreed to write to the home secretary.' In his letter, Dannatt declared his role 'at the outset' as a paid adviser to the company, but said he believed 'the threat from Palestine Action has more widespread implications for security and the economy within the United Kingdom'. The letter to Suella Braverman was headed 'General The Lord Dannatt GCB CBE MC DL', addressed from the House of Lords. He outlined the details of Palestine Action's activities at Teledyne's factory and at another factory run by a different arms company in Edinburgh. Dannatt wrote: 'The slow pace at which the British legal system has been working to take action against those involved in the trespass and criminal damage resulting from such 'direct action' has served to embolden Palestine Action and their continued recruitment drive for individuals who are prepared to commit arrestable offences.' He told Braverman he would be 'very grateful to receive assurance that the threat from Palestine Action is fully recognised by our security services and appropriate action [is] either planned or being taken'. He said he had 'undertaken to brief the Teledyne main board in the United States that the threat from Palestine Action in the UK is being suitably addressed'. Dannatt contacted the government again in September 2024 after 'attacks on Teledyne facilities continued and the company asked [him] to raise their concerns again'. In a letter to Dan Jarvis, the Labour security minister, Dannatt once again disclosed his role. Under the same letterhead, he said he would be 'very grateful to receive assurance from the current government that the threat posed by Palestine Action continues to be fully recognised by our security services and that appropriate action is being taken.'
