Protesting - do you know your rights?

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Dear Supporter,

You may have seen or experienced the police repression of the Palestine demo at the weekend. Over 77 people were arrested for allegedly breaching the draconian conditions imposed on the protest by the Metropolitan police. Those charged include Stop the War chief steward Chris Nineham and PSC director Ben Jamal.

We stand in solidarity with those attacked by the police and those facing court cases as a result.

However, whilst the targeting of people who are organising peaceful marches is an escalation, this assault on our right to protest is not new. Palestine Action and Just Stop Oil have felt the brunt of this increased repression, and there are currently dozens of people in prison or facing harsh bail conditions for taking part in non violent direct action, partly enabled by the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Act and the new Public Order Act introduced by the previous Conservative government.

While it is natural to feel scared by this level of repression, it is important to remember that we do still have the right to protest, and these cases will be fought in the courts. But there are some things we can do to make ourselves and our fellow campaigners safer. Our friends at the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) have put together a great [set of resources]([link removed]) to help you do this. Also keep an eye out for Netpol's new state of protest report that's coming out soon. This will be a comprehensive analysis of policing and protest in England and Wales and the repression campaigners are currently facing.

One of the most empowering things we can do is making sure we all know our rights. Green and Black Cross (GBC) have a number of [upcoming online training sessions]([link removed]) - sign up and get informed. Even if you've done one in the past, doing a refresher is always a good idea - especially given the new legislation.

We also need to make sure we practice active solidarity across our networks and ensure that we support each other and refuse to be divided into good and bad protesters. Writing to prisoners and showing they're loved and supported is also an incredibly important thing to do and makes a massive difference to the people inside. Details of PA and JSO prisoners are [here]([link removed]) and [here]([link removed]). Think about organising a letter writing event in your community. It's a great way to show solidarity, talk about why people are imprisoned, and get lots of lovely letters sent to some incredible people.

Our government and the UK arms industry is complicit in genocide. Arms industry profits are prioritised over Palestinian lives. We may rightly feel scared by state repression, but this will not deter us and it will not stop us taking action against this trade in death and destruction. At CAAT, we've got numerous protest events coming up, including the [ADS arms trade dinner]([link removed] on 28th January and the [DSEI protests]([link removed]) in September that you can get involved in.

See you on the streets in 2025!

Emily

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