Two people were arrested during a silent protest on Stroud High Street against the UK ban on Palestine Action and the Government’s response to the conflict in Gaza.
The arrests took place on Saturday, October 10, when the protesters were sitting on the John Marjoram Peace Bench at the top of the High Street, according to campaign group Lift the Ban. They were holding signs that read: “I Oppose Genocide I Support Palestine Action.”
The protest was part of a wider campaign against the proscription of Palestine Action under terrorism legislation. The group says the organisation was proscribed in July 2025 and that more than 3,500 people have since been arrested under the Terrorism Act in connection with protests against the ban.
What the campaign group is calling for
Lift the Ban is campaigning for the ban on Palestine Action to be lifted. It is also calling for people who take direct action in support of Palestinians not to face what it describes as persecution.
The group is further asking the UK Government to recognise the Israeli military campaign in Gaza as genocide, and to end military trade and other military cooperation with Israel.
Those demands come amid continuing legal and political debate about the conflict in Gaza, the UK’s response and the use of terrorism legislation against protesters.
Legal and political background
The source material notes that, under the Geneva Conventions and other international humanitarian law, certain acts against civilians and civilian infrastructure can constitute war crimes, depending on the circumstances.
In January 2024, the International Court of Justice ordered provisional measures in proceedings brought by South Africa against Israel under the Genocide Convention. The court did not make a final determination at that stage that genocide had occurred.
In September 2025, an independent UN Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Lift the Ban says those findings should prompt further action by the UK Government, including meeting its obligations under international law.
Protesters’ views
Martin Large, 72, of Stroud, said the use of terrorism laws against Palestine Action supporters was intended to suppress non-violent protest.
“The ban on Palestine Action uses terrorism laws to suppress legitimate non-violent protest against what is happening in Gaza. The courts are still debating whether the ban was unlawful and yet the police are still arresting peaceful protesters terrorism offences. Defending lives is not terrorism; fighting genocide is not terrorism.”
David Lambert, 67, said he wanted the protest to highlight what he described as the Government’s attempts to restrict peaceful protest.
“I want to demonstrate how extreme our government has become in its attempts to stamp out peaceful protest. If it can arrest and charge people with terrorism for sitting quietly holding a piece of paper, our basic right to speak out against government wrongdoing and injustice is being violated. For the future’s sake we need to resist.”
Stroud Times said it had contacted Gloucestershire Police for comment. No police response was included in the supplied report.
