UK: Pro-Palestine Leaders Face Trial in What Activists Call a State Crackdown on Dissent

Two leading figures in Britain’s Palestine solidarity movement will stand trial on February 23, in a case campaigners describe as a direct attempt by the state to criminalise protest and silence opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza.

Ben Jamal, Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), and Chris Nineham, Vice Chair of the Stop the War Coalition, face public order charges after leading a peaceful protest in Whitehall in January 2025. Their prosecution follows a decision by the Metropolitan Police to ban demonstrators from marching to the BBC, where activists intended to accuse the broadcaster of downplaying Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

Instead, protesters gathered in Whitehall in defiance of what organisers called an unjustified and politically motivated restriction. A small delegation — including actor Juliet Stevenson, Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos, and MP Jeremy Corbyn — attempted to walk peacefully to lay flowers in memory of Gaza’s dead. Police moved in, arresting Nineham and dozens of others. Four protest leaders now face trial.

Activists say the charges mark a turning point in what they describe as an increasingly aggressive campaign by authorities to suppress the mass movement that has brought hundreds of thousands onto British streets since Israel’s assault on Gaza began. Protest organisers argue that peaceful demonstrators are being treated as criminals while the government continues to support Israel diplomatically and militarily.

“This is not about public order. This is about political repression. The British state is targeting those who expose its complicity.”
– Louise Regan, PSC Chair

The timing of the trial has intensified concerns. The government is simultaneously advancing new legislation — including the proposed Crime and Policing Bill — that would grant police sweeping powers to restrict demonstrations deemed disruptive. Critics say the vague standard of “cumulative disruption” could be used to effectively ban protests on political grounds.

The case also follows a recent High Court ruling declaring the government’s proscription of Palestine Action unlawful, reinforcing claims by activists that authorities are overreaching in their efforts to curb pro-Palestinian dissent.

“If they can prosecute protest leaders for peaceful demonstration,” one organiser said, “then no one’s right to protest is safe.”

The verdict could have lasting consequences — not only for Jamal and Nineham, but for the future of political protest in the United Kingdom.

©TNPP