Council backs Palestine Action against own legal advice

Derry and Strabane District Council has gone against its own legal advice and voted to call for charges to be dropped against people arrested for supporting the newly-banned group, Palestine Action.

The British government proscribed Palestine Action earlier this month under the Terrorism Act following a break-in at an RAF base, with membership carrying a maximum jail term of 14 years.

At July’s full council meeting on Wednesday, People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin proposed that council write to the British government in protest at what he claimed was its “continued complicity with Israel’s starvation of the people of Gaza” and calling for the reversal of its proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist group.

The full text of Cllr Harkin’s motion, which was seconded by Cllr Gary Donnelly, read: “Council rejects the rationale provided by the British government and Security Minister Dan Jarvis for the proscription of Palestine Action and calls for its immediate overturning.

“Council supports the legal challenge to Palestine Action's proscription and will write the High Court to call for the ban to be removed immediately.

“Council supports all those who have protested the ban on Palestine Action and calls for charges against them to be immediately dropped.

“Council commends the opposition of the Irish Congress of Trades Unions at its July Delegate Conference in Belfast to the British government's authoritarian proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation and the curtailing of human rights, and its demand for all Palestine solidarity campaigners to be protected from intimidation, discrimination, and victimisation.

“Council commends and supports veteran Civil Rights campaigners who have protested proscription and in solidarity with Palestine Action in order defend the right to protest and on the basis that protesting genocide is not a crime.

“Furthermore, Council will write to the British government to express our anger, dismay, and disgust at its continued complicity with Israel's starvation of the people of Gaza and the setting up of a concentration camp on the ruins of Rafah.

“Council condemns Israel's murder of more than 1,000 desperate and hungry Palestinians at food distribution sites.

“Council agrees the Israeli state and its allies are responsible for terrorism and the crime of genocide and urges action to end it as soon as possible.

“This includes action by the British government, the Irish government, and the Stormont Executive to fully condemn, fully impose military and economic sanctions on Israel and to demand the borders of Gaza are immediately opened to allow full access to food and humanitarian aid.”

Following a brief recess, Cllr Harkin was informed by Mayor McHugh, Council’s chief executive and the city and district solicitor had advised part of the motion was inadmissible under standing order 16.12, which states that a motion would be rejected if the wording or nature of the motion is considered unlawful or improper.

City Solicitor Philip Kingston said: “Council wouldn’t write to the High Court in relation to matters such as this but it’s the next paragraph, which calls for charges against [Palestine Action] to be immediately dropped; we don’t know what might be involved in that [and] what the council might be supporting.

“As it stands I am unable to provide the council with the assurance that that action would be lawful and one that the council could sign up to, so my view is that the motion couldn’t go forward with that particular paragraph involved in it.”

Cllr Harkin accepted the advice to not write to the High Court, but argued that the second paragraph was important to the motion as protesters were being arrested for “holding signs”.

“We’ve had civil rights veterans gathered at the Guildhall and Waterloo Place holding signs opposing the proscription of Palestine Action and I think that this is a ridiculous new use of legislation.

“We have stood with other people who’ve been arrested for doing BDS actions, we should be standing in solidarity with people who’ve been arrested as a result of this legislation. I appreciate the legal point of view from Philip. I would be reluctant to take out the part about dropping the charges.”

SDLP councillor Cllr Catherine McDaid said her party supported the whole motion.

“We are supporting women over 70 who are being arrested for holding placards. It's not people, it's not big scary people that we're talking about supporting here,” she said.

“The point of making Palestine Action a terrorist organization is to stop people being given a defence offense in court and by doing that, the government is putting us all in danger.

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“So, if you go out and you protest genocide, then you are potentially going to be done for um supporting a terrorist organization. And I just think that's a really, really slippery slope.”

Sinn Féin councillor and Mayor, Ruairí McHugh, rejected a call, from Sinn Féin councillor Christopher Jackson, to suspend council’s standing orders so the motion could be put forward in its entirety.

However Mayor McHugh was informed by council’s Chief Executive, John Kelpie, that it was ultimately his decision whether or not to progress the motion, and therefore decided to put forward the motion “as is” for members’ decision.

UUP and DUP members voted against the motion, with DUP alderman and Deputy Mayor, Niree McMorris, arguing that it was “absurd” that members were ignoring legal advice.