Mahmood condemned for defending Palestine Action ban

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The Labour minister was asked about the thousands of pensioners held for supporting the proscribed group since last July on the Rest is Politics podcast.

She claimed it feels “very uncomfortable to see them falling foul” of the Terrorism Act, but the law has to be applied to “your principles, even when it’s uncomfortable for you.”

“But when you get a group of skinheads standing outside a mosque, holding up a placard saying, ‘I support National Action,’ I’m going to want the Section 13 support offence to be applied,” she added.

“You don’t have to show your support for the Palestinian people by also supporting a proscribed organisation.

“If you want to challenge the proscription, there are ways of doing that, too.”

A Defend Our Juries spokesman said: “The Home Secretary’s comments miss the point entirely — and she fails to provide any evidence that Palestine Action should have been proscribed in the first place.

“That elderly and disabled people are being arrested as terrorists for holding signs should be no less shocking than the government’s use of terror laws to silence those speaking and acting to stop a genocide.

“If she stands with the Palestinian people, as she claims, then she should not support her government bowing to the demands of arms manufacturers who supply the weapons used to kill them en masse.”

He warned that Ms Mahmood’s continued support of the ban “also puts her at risk of being sidelined in government.”

“The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have recognised Israel as committing war crimes and ethnic cleansing, and Ed Miliband has extended an invitation to Defend Our Juries to have a conversation about our demand to lift the ban,” the spokesman said.

“The Home Secretary’s paper-thin justification of a ban implemented as a tool to suppress dissent is shameful, and untenable — and it seems her colleagues are beginning to realise this.”

Jewish Voice for Liberation co-chair Leah Levane said: “I understand that the Home Secretary may be in a difficult position, but I feel she can do better than, [for example], state ‘the law is the law’ and so must be applied to all equally.”

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