In a high-profile verdict that has reignited debates over protest rights and the criminalization of pro-Palestine activism in the United Kingdom, two veteran movement leaders have been convicted of violating police-imposed restrictions stemming from a major January Gaza war protest in central London. Chris Nineham, 62, vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition, and Ben Jamal, 61, chair of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC), were found guilty on two counts of breaching the UK Public Order Act following a three-day trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
The case traces back to a mass national demonstration organized by a coalition of pro-Palestine advocacy groups, which had planned a march from a starting point outside the BBC’s headquarters to protest what organisers decry as the outlet’s pro-Israel media bias in its coverage of the Gaza conflict. The route was first publicly announced in late November 2024, and received initial approval from the Metropolitan Police. However, following objections from pro-Israel groups, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, and multiple sitting Members of Parliament, police revised the permit, relocating the starting point over concerns about its proximity to a nearby synagogue. On the day of the protest, police imposed a last-minute additional restriction that converted the planned march into a static demonstration confined to Whitehall.
The two activists were arrested after a small contingent of demonstrators left the static rally to travel to Trafalgar Square to lay flowers in honor of children killed in Gaza. Prosecutors argued that protesters deliberately forced their way through a police cordon after the rally ended, and that Jamal delivered a speech that incited the crowd to defy the legally imposed restrictions.
Delivering the ruling, District Judge Daniel Sternberg upheld the prosecution’s position, ruling that the police’s restrictions were lawful, issued under valid statutory powers, and based on a reasonable assessment of risks including large crowd size (estimated by PSC itself at 100,000 attendees) and potential disruption to local businesses and worshippers at nearby synagogues. Sternberg stated that Jamal’s speech amounted to incitement, framing it as deliberate persuasion and inducement to encourage attendees to breach the imposed conditions. He also rejected a defense application to dismiss the case entirely.
During the trial, the defense mounted a vigorous challenge to the prosecution’s narrative. Mark Summers KC, representing Nineham and Jamal, argued the entire case was unlawful, citing a previous Court of Appeal ruling that found legislation granting police unlimited power to restrict protests was enacted outside legal bounds. Body-worn police footage played in court revealed significant operational chaos among officers on the ground: one officer was captured referring to the police response as a “massive clusterfuck,” while another can be heard shouting orders to withdraw as the cordon was overwhelmed by crowd density. Summers emphasized the footage undermines claims of a premeditated breach, instead showing inconsistent communication, poor planning, and reactive policing that failed to manage the large demonstration. He also noted that multiple video recordings from the day show police themselves ushered organisers through police lines, contradicting the prosecution’s version of events.
Outside the courthouse following the verdict, both Nineham and Jamal announced they would immediately appeal the conviction, framing the ruling as a major blow to civil liberties in the UK. Nineham described the verdict as part of a systemic campaign to criminalize the pro-Palestine movement, saying: “This is clearly part of an ongoing criminalisation of the Palestine movement in which people protesting against a genocide are being targeted by a British establishment that is colluding with it. It is an attempt to send a chilling message across society that people shouldn’t risk protesting – it is an attempt that will not stop us.”
Jamal echoed the criticism, noting the judge’s acknowledgment that the pair had previously possessed good character, which the conviction now revokes. He responded by referencing a core moral question from Palestinian activists: “What did you do when Gaza was going through a genocide? History will judge which of us stood on the right side of history. Chris and I will not be silenced. You will not be silenced. This movement will not be silenced.”
The verdict drew widespread condemnation from across UK left-wing politics. Labour MP John McDonnell, who was arrested alongside the two organisers on the day of the protest, called the ruling a “grotesque” attack on civil liberties. Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, now leader of the left-wing Your Party and a longstanding critic of UK foreign policy in the Middle East, described the decision as “disgusting,” and reiterated calls for the UK to end its military and political support for Israel and U.S. operations in the region.
The January protest was one of more than 20 national pro-Palestine demonstrations held across the UK since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, all calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to British state backing for Israel’s military campaign.