Prominent UK pro-Palestine activists guilty of breaching protest conditions

Two prominent leaders in the Palestine solidarity movement in Britain have been found guilty of breaching protest conditions, in what campaigners called a “grotesque” and “shocking” decision.Ben Jamal, 62, the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), and Chris Nineham, 63, vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition, were accused of failing to comply with conditions imposed on a protest on 18 January 2025. They were subsequently charged with public order offences.The 18 January protest was one of 34 national pro-Palestine demonstrations held since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023.On Wednesday, Jamal and Nineham were found guilty after a trial at Westminster Magistrates Court. Judge Sternberg said in his verdict that the conditions imposed were lawful and necessary, and that both defendants clearly knew them.Jamal was also convicted of two counts of inciting other protesters to breach police conditions. Sternberg said the speech Jamal made at the protest constituted incitement because it was “a suggestion, persuasion, and inducement” encouraging a breach of the conditions.“Protest rights, while fundamental, are not absolute and do not permit breaching lawfully imposed conditions,” the judge said in his verdict.Jamal and Nineham said they would appeal against the convictions.The Metropolitan Police have faced significant criticism over their handling of the protest in central London, at which more than 70 people were arrested.Trade union leaders, legal experts, MPs and peers were among those calling for an independent inquiry into what they described as “repressive and heavy-handed policing” at the 18 January demonstration.Previous marches, which took place after Israeli forces launched the assault on Gaza after the 7 October 2023 Hames-led attack on Israel, had passed largely without incident. Relations between police and organisers, including the PSC, had been considered cordial.Campaigners said they wanted the march to start or end at BBC headquarters in Portland Place to protest against the public broadcaster’s coverage of the war in Gaza. They said the location had been used twice previously without incident.The Met said it placed conditions on the protest after factoring in “the cumulative impact” on Jewish Londoners, adding that the march was in the vicinity of synagogues. Officers said they believed there was a coordinated effort to breach those conditions.A number of critical letters were sent to the force alleging it falsely accused protesters carrying flowers – including the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his former shadow chancellor John McDonnell – of forcing their way through police lines, when video footage appeared to show they had initially been waved through by officers.Dozens of protesters gathered outside the court on Wednesday morning. The public gallery was full of the defendants’ supporters, including Corbyn, as the judge delivered the verdicts.Speaking outside the court, McDonnell said he had been with Jamal and Nineham on the day of the protest. He said Jamal went on stage to say they would assemble speakers, walk to police lines and ask if a delegation could go to the BBC. If refused, they would lay flowers at officers’ feet.“This is a grotesque decision today. But it is all part and parcel of trying to undermine our civil liberties,” he told the crowd. “You’ve got to recognise that this is an assault on our civil liberties, and there’s more coming down the road.”Corbyn also addressed supporters, saying: “I’m absolutely appalled, disgusted, that they’ve been found guilty of doing no more than standing up for the rights of the Palestinian people, and very importantly, the right to protest within our society.”Jamal and Nineham left the court to cheers from the crowd.“We think this is an extraordinary and shocking decision, and a huge setback for civil liberties in this country,” Nineham said. “It is an attempt to send a chilling message across society that people shouldn’t be protesting. It is an attempt that will not stop us.”He described the conditions of the march as a step change. “A refusal to march in the vicinity of the BBC has simply not happened before, and it sends a very dangerous and alarming signal to millions of people across this country,” he said.Jamal said he would be appealing because of how the trial had been conducted. “Consider these two basic facts: six days were allocated from this case; the judge allowed the prosecution to take four days to make their case and did not allow any additional time for defence submissions,” he said.He added the verdict would not distract campaigners from their cause. “Yesterday, Israel became the world’s first state to enact a law which mandates execution only for people of one ethnic background [Palestinians]. Even apartheid South Africa did not have such a law, but still our government offers Israel diplomatic, economic, political, and military support. And instead of ending its complicity, it devotes its energy to bringing in even further laws to repress the right to protest. It will not work. We will not be silenced.”Campaigners vowed that the protest for Palestinian rights on 16 May would go ahead.