ExeterPSC

🚨Sign our petition calling on the UK’s Eurovision contestant to withdraw. @LOOKMUMNOCMPUTR must heed the call from Palestinians, and refuse to be part of an event providing Israel with a stage to conceal its genocide and apartheid. Sign here: palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/eurovisionpeti…

Today - all welocone

Our movement will not be silenced. PSC Director @BenJamalpsc speaks outside court after he and @ChrisNineham were found guilty for organising a peaceful protest for Palestine. This decision is shocking and a huge attack on civil liberties in Britain. The fight is not over 🇵🇸

Alarming to see police officers using face coverings, emulating ICE agents in the US. If officers are acting lawfully, why should they fear being identified?

F-35s, of which 15% is produced in the UK, are playing a critical role in the US-Israeli war on Iran. Tell your MP - UK out of the F-35 fighter jet programme! 🔗 caat.org.uk/take-action/ca…

Today, hundreds joined our 5 regional protests at arms factories involved in supplying components for weapons used by Israel to commit genocide in the Gaza Strip, and atrocities in the West Bank. We can’t stop now. Stay on the streets for Palestine, join our feeder march to the important Together demonstration this Saturday.

🚨 The trial of PSC Director Ben Jamal and Stop the War vice-chair Chris Nineham has concluded today and the judge will announce his verdict on April 1st. Defence barrister Mark Summers KC said the case was a “ludicrous invitation to criminalise legitimate protected political speech about the misuse of state power against people’s civil liberties." He described their actions in the run up to the 18 January 2025 Palestine protest as nothing more than those of civic organisations engaging in political campaigning in a democracy. The police imposed conditions which had created widespread public criticism. On previous marches this had led to compromise with the police, but in this instance the police rejected that approach. Letters in support of the protest signed by members of Jewish organisations, Holocaust survivors, journalists, judges, politicians and others were disregarded. Mr Summers emphasised that Chris and Ben were both highly respected movement leaders with a long and extraordinary record of successfully organising some of the biggest demonstrations ever seen in this country. These were all managed in cooperation with the police and in accordance with conditions, even when there was disagreement about them. The court heard again how officers in the control room and on the ground were operating in complete ignorance of the flower delegation plan announced from the stage - that a small group would walk to the BBC to lay flowers or if stopped by police, lay them at the feet of police. This was a sensible, symbolic proposal to go some way towards achieving the original objective of the protest. It could only have succeeded with police permission and was not an unlawful intention. At the police cordons the delegation clearly understood they had been permitted to proceed through police lines, being told on one police bodycam “You’ve got to filter through.” There was no communication to the contrary and no reason to to believe that the police were instructing them to do something unlawful. Met Commander Slonecki acknowledged in his evidence that existing police conditions were subject to ad hoc changes on the ground as necessary. On the incitement charge against Ben Jamal, Mr Summers said that he “engaged in the very opposite of inciting people into a criminal breach of the conditions imposed by the police”. His criticism of the repression of the right to protest by the police was entirely legitimate and not an encouragement to break the law. The flower delegation represented “legitimate grievances channeled into a powerful, lawful act of political expression and symbolism.” Mr Summers ended by saying that the incitement charge was “utterly hopeless and you must acquit”.

Sign up quickly if you want to join us on Wednesday - free tickets on eventbrite going quickly eventbrite.co.uk/e/gaza-palesti…

Fantastic news that ALL of the Filton 24 have now been acquitted of aggravated burglary - the most serious charge they faced. They must all be granted immediate bail. It is genocide enablers like Elbit Systems and the British government that should be in the dock.

🏆VICTORY: ALL FILTON24 AQUITTED OF AGGRAVATED BURGLARY The Filton24 are a group of Palestine Action activists accused of causing £2 million worth of damage when they allegedly destroyed weapons destined for Gaza at an Elbit Systems factory in Bristol. They were held on remand for 18 months, facing a charge that carries a MAXIMUM sentence of life in prison. But today, they were acquitted when the CPS offered no evidence on the aggravated burglary charge. At the first trial, all six defendants were found not guilty of aggravated burglary. The jury rejected the claim that they entered the factory intending to harm anyone. Instead, the defence argued their intention was to use tools to disarm weapons and “prevent violence” against Palestinians. Now, with the charge dropped, we hope it will pave the way for the remaining defendants to be released on bail after spending 18 months in prison without a single conviction!

This is a disgraceful move from the British Museum. Denying Palestinians historic connection to their land as they face down Israel’s genocide is deeply dangerous. It is collusion with Israel’s project to erase and annihilate the Palestinian people. middleeasteye.net/news/british-m…

The government is handing lucrative contracts to Palantir, a notorious US corporation providing AI and surveillance technology used as an essential part of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. TAKE ACTION: Write to Starmer to demand all contracts with Palantir are cancelled: palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/cancelpalantir…

Join us Saturday

The government’s close relationship with Palantir is abhorrent. We must act to put a stop to it. Take action today and tell Starmer to terminate all contracts with Palantir: palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/cancelpalantir… (8/8)

We hope the weather will behave itself on Saturday 🤞🌥️. We need your help - Join us this Saturday 7th Feb 12-2pm Bedford Square as we picket and leaflet Barclays Bank.

🚨 Palestine coalition statement on UKIP march We are deeply concerned by the decision by the Met police to permit a UKIP march to end in Trafalgar Square tomorrow (31 Jan), not far from where our national march for Palestine will be passing. Read here: palestinecampaign.org/palestine-coal…

The Times has published a ridiculous article attacking our Councillor Pledge for Palestine. The pledge asks councillors to take steps to ensure their councils are not complicit in Israel's grave violations of international law, including by divesting pension funds from companies complicit in Israel's crimes. Polling shows this action is strongly supported by the British people. But the Times’ reporting – and the accompanying quotes from some of the usual suspects – suggests there is something wrong with it, as if constituents shouldn't ask their elected representatives to help end their council's complicity in Israel's genocide and apartheid. Our research has found that local government pension scheme funds invest £12+ billion in companies complicit in Israel’s crimes, including in arms companies that manufacture the bombs and bullets used to murder Palestinians. The Times' reporting is as absurd as it is malicious. Accountability is an important part of the democratic process, and it bizarre for The Times to suggest that voters are wrong to expect high ethical and legal standard from their elected representatives, which is all the pledge asks. In the 1980s, the right-wing press was similarly hostile to the 120+ councils in Britain that acted in support of the South African anti-apartheid struggle. The right-wing press were on the wrong side of history then, and they’re on the wrong side of history now. We know what they really fear: People across Britain – from all walks of life, growing in number every day – who refuse to be silent in the face of Israel's horrific crimes and our Government’s complicity in these atrocities. We will not be deterred by these smears. Join us in standing up for the rights of the Palestinian people and write to your local councillor today to ask them to Pledge for Palestine: palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/CouncillorPled…

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