Dozens of leading international scholars and writers, including Naomi Klein and Angela Davis, have signed a letter to the Guardian calling on the UK government to reverse the ban on Palestine Action. The letter applauds what it describes as a “growing campaign of collective defiance” against the ban and commends hundreds of people planning to risk arrest by declaring support for Palestine Action during a mass protest in London on Saturday.
The signatories, from major academic institutions worldwide, say they are “especially concerned” about the ban’s possible impact on universities across Britain and beyond. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, proscribed Palestine Action last month after activists caused an estimated £7m of damage to jets at RAF Brize Norton military base in Oxfordshire.
The letter states: “As scholars dedicated to questions of justice and ethics we believe that Yvette Cooper’s recent proscription of Palestine Action represents an attack both on the entire pro-Palestine movement and on fundamental freedoms of expression, association, assembly and protest.” It adds: “As hundreds of people again risk arrest by joining street protests on 9 August … we express our full solidarity with those mobilising on their campuses or in their workplaces and communities to put an immediate stop to the escalating genocide and to end all UK complicity with Israel’s crimes.”
Other signatories include Judith Butler, Étienne Balibar, Rebecca Comay, Ilan Pappé, Avi Shlaim, Rashid Khalidi, Abdaljawad Omar, Haidar Eid, Michael Hardt, and Eyal Weizman. The letter follows a separate appeal from 300 left-leaning Jewish figures, including director Mike Leigh and author Michael Rosen, who described the ban as “illegitimate and unethical”.
On Wednesday, culture secretary Lisa Nandy urged the public to stay away from events supporting proscribed organisations, saying: “There’s a difference between that and supporting a proscribed terror organisation that wishes harm on the British people.” The pressure group Defend Our Juries plans to hold a “mass action” in London on Saturday, with police warning of mass arrests for contravening terrorism laws.
