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A "mass action" against the Palestine Action ban will take place in Trafalgar Square this Saturday (4th October), with 1,500 people having signed a pledge making to join the action and risk arrest by pledging their support for the banned organisation.

They will, as in previous protests, hold signs saying "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action." Organisers Defend Our Juries believe hundreds more will join the action on the day without registering in advance - making it the largest such protest yet.

Over 1,600 people have been arrested for peaceful sign-holding under the Terrorism Act 2000 since the Palestine Action ban came into effect on 5th July - more than six times the total number of counter-terror arrests in the whole of last year, according to Defend Our Juries. The mass action in Trafalgar Square could therefore see the total number of people arrested so far nearly double.

Responding to Byline Times at a press conference on Wednesday (1st October), Saeed Taji Farouky, a Palestinian filmmaker and journalist, said: "The level of anger, the level of despair amongst the British public, is unlike anything I've seen in 30 years of activism for Palestine. So I have no doubt that Defend Our Juries can continue as long as it takes."

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"It's very clear that the government has said they won't back down. It's very clear that Defend Our Juries have said they won't back down - not only about Palestine in particular, but about the foundations of British democracy, about the right to freedom of speech in this country."

He added: "Defend Our Juries plan to continue the protests and escalate in terms of numbers, if that's necessary."

And the Palestinian activist believes that if Defend Our Juries was banned or stopped their campaign, "you'd still see 1,500 to 2,000 people show up at Parliament Square once a month, taking action."

"It has become almost an autonomous movement in itself. It's a bottom-up civil disobedience movement that is more steadfast than anything I've seen in years in this country."

Martin Cavanagh (PCS Union National President) also attended the press conference. He told a clutch of reporters: "We have been pushing [for unions] to attend the general Palestine protests. We've been pushing the trade union movement to take a far more proactive and more vocal stance over the last two years.

"We were there at the very beginning - on day one, ourselves and Unite were the only two trade unions represented at that very first national demonstration, and it has been growing since."

Asked if he believed union chiefs should risk arrest by attending, he added: "Are we as a union pushing general secretaries to take part in the action? The answer is that unions and general secretaries will make their personal choice about what action they can take in pursuit of getting the government to stop the arms sales."

The Met Police has been contacted for comment.

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Defend Our Juries argues Palestine Action was banned "not because it posed any threat to the public, but because it threatened the profits of the arms companies enabling Israel's genocide." Arms firms were among those recently revealed to have lobbied for th...