Two prominent activists have been found guilty of public order offences in relation to a rally they organised in London against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Chris Nineham, 62 and Ben Jamal, 61, were arrested at the January 2025 protest in London and accused of breaching protest conditions after police banned demonstrators from gathering at BBC headquarters, on the grounds that the building is near a synagogue.
During the ruling at Westminster magistrates’ court, judge Daniel Sternberg said Jamal had given a speech that was “a suggestion, persuasion, and inducement” to breach police conditions. He convicted Jamal on two counts of inciting other protesters to breach the rules.
Nineham is vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition and Jamal is chair of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC), which have brought millions onto the streets since October 2023 to protest the genocide.
Nineham and Jamal said they would appeal the convictions.
In a statement after the verdict, PSC denied that Jamal had breached any rules with the speech.
“From the stage that day, Ben Jamal explained that a delegation of leaders… would walk peacefully in a symbolic protest towards the BBC to lay flowers to mark the corporation’s failures to report the truth of genocide in Gaza,” it said.
“Ben made clear that, if stopped by the police, the flowers would be laid at the police line,” it added.
The Metropolitan police alleged that protesters breached the police cordon after the static rally ended in Whitehall, which organisers denied. “In the event, as copious video evidence shows, police officers invited the delegation to pass though,” the PSC statement said.
The group said there were “significant concerns about the conduct of the six day hearing”.
The defence argued that the police’s restrictions were unlawful, but “extraordinarily, in dismissing this argument, district judge Daniel Sternberg informed the court that he was not obliged to give any reasons for his decision,” PSC said.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who attended the protest, said he and others followed police instructions.
“We held an entirely peaceful demonstration in support of Palestinian people… we ended the demonstration by laying down flowers at their feet to mourn the deaths of Palestinian children,” he wrote on social media.
“Today’s verdict is a dark day for civil liberties in this country and is a disgraceful assault on the right to protest,” he added. “This case is part of a wider attempt to intimidate the Palestinian solidarity movement into silence. They will never succeed.”
Labour MP John McDonnell said: “I hope this judgement is appealed as it stands as an assault on our civil liberties.”
Feyzi Ismail, a lecturer in global policy and activism at Goldsmiths, University of London, said the trial highlighted “the extraordinarily close relationship between the Metropolitan police and Zionist groups”.
Writing for Al Jazeera, she added that “this includes the police accepting recommendations from these groups about the Palestine movement’s demonstration routes.”
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Israel has overwhelming military power, but moral power rooted in peace and justice is completely absent from Zionism. This is the power that has inspired millions to shout "Free Palestine" in cities around the world like never before.