Twelve people have been charged under UK anti-terrorism legislation following their involvement in a protest in Manchester against the proscription of direct action group Palestine Action.
The charges come as activists prepare for nationwide demonstrations opposing the ban, due to begin at the Labour Party conference, which begins next week.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed that twelve people were charged. Palestine Action was designated a proscribed terrorist organisation by the Home Office in July, making membership or support a criminal offence.
The twelve defendants, who joined a demonstration in Manchester city centre against both the ban and Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 10 November.
This latest wave of arrests comes amid mounting criticism from activists and human rights groups, who have accused the government of carrying out an “unprecedented assault on free speech” with the ban and engaging in legal overreach.
From Sunday until 4 October, a week of nationwide actions is planned against the Palestine Action ban - beginning at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool and culminating with a mass mobilisation in London.
Defend Our Juries, the group leading the 'Lift the Ban' campaign, has described the upcoming demonstrations as a "major escalation" that would present an “unprecedented challenge” to the police, with more than 1,100 people already registered to participate.
In a statement, Defend Our Juries argued that while "Labour members and trades unions are against their party’s complicity in genocide and the ban on Palestine Action", they added that "party officials have shut down all the debates that members wanted to have on these issues during their conference."
The statement continued: "Defend Our Juries will bring the 'Lift the Ban' campaign to the door of the party that continues to deny genocide and has banned the direct action group that was trying to prevent it."
Former home secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action in June, three days after the group admitted responsibility for breaking into UK military base RAF Brize Norton.
At the time, she said the organisation, which has targeted companies accused of complicity in Israeli war crimes, had a "long history of unacceptable criminal damage" and posed a threat to national security.
Since the ban took effect on 5 July, more than 1,600 people have been arrested under the UK Terrorism Act- surpassing the number detained during the entire “war on terror” since 2001.