by New Worker correspondent
Two leading pro-Palestine campaigners were found guilty of breaching protest conditions this week. Ben Jamal, the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Chris Nineham, the vice-chairman of the Stop the War Coalition, were both accused of failing to march within a designated area set by police during a mass protest in London last year.
The logs of the Police Gold Commander Adam Slonecki reveal that enormous political pressure was placed on the police by pro-Israel groups to prevent a protest at the BBC.
Claims of disorder on the day were simply false. The only moment of violence was when Nineham was brutally pulled to the ground and hauled away by police officers.
A key part of their defence was that the conditions imposed on the protest on 18th January 2025, which prevented a march to the BBC, were unlawful. The defence submitted a detailed legal argument outlining this case. But Judge Daniel Sternberg told the court that he was not obliged to give any reasons for his decision.
Stop the War said the verdict was “extraordinary and shocking and a huge setback for civil liberties” and that there were “significant concerns about the conduct of the six day hearing which will be raised during appeal”.
Jamal and Nineham were found guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court of failing to comply with conditions that required the protest to stay in an area in central London and not enter the surroundings of the BBC’s headquarters at Portland Place. Jamal was also convicted of two counts of inciting other protesters to breach police conditions. Both men were given conditional discharges and ordered to pay £7,500 each in costs.
Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader who now heads the Independent Alliance in the House of Commons, said he was appalled at the court’s decision. “In January 2025, we held an entirely peaceful demonstration in support of Palestinian people. At all times, they — and we — followed all police instructions. We ended the demonstration by laying down flowers at their feet to mourn the deaths of Palestinian children” he said. “Today’s verdict is a dark day for civil liberties in this country — and is a disgraceful assault on the right to protest. My solidarity is with Ben, Chris and all those who have stood up for our common humanity in the face of genocide. This case is part of a wider attempt to intimidate the Palestinian solidarity movement into silence. They will never succeed”.
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