RANT: THE JURY IS STILL OUT

  

 

A BIT OF GOOD NEWS for a change. On 13 February this year, the British direct-action protest group, Palestine Action (PA) had the designation “terrorist organization” lifted by the High Court in London. The Court ruled the government’s decision last year to “proscribe” (ban) PA as a terrorist group was “disproportionate” and “unlawful” and said the collective should not be put on the same legal footing as real terrorist organizations like Al Queda or ISIS. The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmoud, has said she will appeal the ruling, but Friday-the-thirteenth proved to be a brighter day for freedom of expression, the right to protest and the right to freely assemble in Britain. And the British people should take the win when they have it.

 

HOWEVER, the appeal process could take months or even years to wend its way through the courts, which is a burden on the nearly three-thousand protesters, thus far, who have been arrested for their public support of Palestine Action and who were charged with “terrorism related offences”. And their crime? Carrying placards saying, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action” in quiet marches across Britain. They faced charges that could come with sentences of up to 14-years imprisonment. The absurd "terrorism-related" charges laid against peaceful protesters should be summarily dismissed.😠Police have said they will continue to monitor protesters, because the ban on Palestine Action and its supporters, is still officially on the books until a final High Court hearing on 20 February when the government will present its arguments against the Court's decision to lift the ban. Until then, police will monitor PA demonstrations but not make any arrests.

 

 👉AS FOR THE TWO DOZEN Palestine Action (PA) members who have been arrested and held in custody pending their court cases, last Friday’s High Court ruling should ease restrictions imposed on them while in prison, such as an excessive number of prison cell searches, limited phone use and visitations, long pre-trial detentions, solitary confinement. Some have been remanded for nearly eighteen months awaiting trial, whereas pre-trial detentions in Britain are typically no more than six months. The state gets away with this because of the terrorism label they've slapped against the activists. PA members were arrested for “aggravated burglary”, trespass and property damage to several Elbit Systems factories beginning in late 2023  in response to Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. Elbit Systems, an Israeli firm, operates several factories in Britain, supplying Israel’s IDF (Israeli Defence Force) with drones and other war materiel. It is worth noting that trials of PA members before 2025's Brize Norton episode ended in equitals; no jury was willing to find the activists guilty, when daily news coverage of Israel's depredations in Gaza made PA activism against Elbit Systems the morally correct thing to do.

 

RECALL that the government ‘dropped the hammer’ on Palestine Action activities after several activists gained access to the Brize Norton airfield in June of last year, spraying red paint onto the wings and jet engines of two transport planes used to ship munitions and supplies to Israel to use against the people of Gaza. The Home Secretary at the time, Yvette Cooper, passed legislation to “proscribe” Palestine Action as a terrorist group and ban PA from organizing in Britain or for anyone to publicly support the group as I’ve discussed. The “24” were initially arrested and detained under terrorism laws and were subsequently charged with “criminal damage, violent disorder, and aggravated burglary.”

👉On 5 February 2026, five of six Palestine Action activists had their day in court, after nearly eighteen months in prison on remand. They have been found not guilty on all charges by a jury of their peers. This decision (coupled with the High Court ruling) bodes well for future cases of around twenty PA members awaiting trial, also on remand in prison for demonstrations at Elbit Systems and the RAF Base Brize Norton *  

  

 The Jury

👉Here we must give credit to eight Palestine Action activists who went on a hunger strike, protesting their treatment at the hands of the British government. Some lasted as long as 42 days (Forty-five days is reckoned to be a life-threatening stage, with organ failure occurring a near certainty. Several were hospitalized, and their brave efforts focused the public’s attention on the strikers and their cause.

With this first group of PA members being found not guilty in a jury trial, it bodes well for other members as their trial dates approach. It's no wonder that British elites are conspiring to limit the availability of jury trials in England. I’ve said it before; I would be surprised if Palestine Action members or their placard-carrying supporters would be found guilty of not so much as a parking ticket if their cases are held before a jury of their peers. Stay tuned, because this kind of dystopian legal hellscape is coming to a justice system near you.¹  

 

“The Filton 18’s alleged crimes are not terrorism related – criminal damage, aggravated burglary and violent disorder. But police have used counter-terror legislation that enabled them to keep…them in solitary confinement, and subject them to repeated interrogation. “(Bristol Cable)

 

  

CHEERS, JAKE.  _____________________________________

 

* One of the hallmarks of a functioning judiciary is the right of citizens to a speedy trial. That Palestine Action members were imprisoned on remand, some for eighteen months is not a failure of the system; it is a feature. It is the deliberate, heavy hand of government using maximum pressure on individual protesters to send a message—don’t screw with us, because we’ll mess you up! Long delays before trials; conservative judges presiding over the court proceedings; harsh, disproportionate sentences. It's called “lawfare”—using the courts to make the process of going through the so-called justice system as onerous, time-consuming and expensive as possible. Even if you don't get to trial, your life is upended. By being incarcerated for months on end or longer, you may lose your job, friends, even your spouse. But those are the costs you might be forced to pay when you go up against the empire.

 

1. In Britain, perhaps the most famous case of prison hunger strikes was during “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland. In 1981, several IRA (Irish Republican Army) prisoners started a hunger strike, led by Bobby Sands (who was elected to Parliament while on a hunger strike, while he was in prison!) Their demands were that IRA prisoners have the status of “political prisoners”, and to not be required to wear prison uniforms, or do prison work, and to have free association.” As a result of the hunger strike ten IRA members starved to death, including Sands but not until the government of Margret Thatcher backed down and was forced to make concessions.

 

 "Jesus H. Christ! You've gotta be kidding me!"