DEFEND our Juries has urged protesters to skip the “charade“ of street bail and withhold their details from police at the next mass demonstration against the Palestine Action ban.

The tactic aims to shift processing from the streets to police stations.

The protest group says the move will make it “practically impossible“ for police to arrest everyone, and opened up sign-ups today for a demonstration in London on September 6. Defend Our Juries said that it would only go ahead if 1,000 people had signed up. Over 2,500 people had already expressed interest in joining before the sign-ups opened.

Demonstrators will hold signs saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” in protest against the group’s ban following its designation as a terrorist organisation last month.

Membership of or support for the group is now a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Some 522 people were arrested at the last mass protest on August 9.

Defend Our Juries argues that this was only possible due to the use of “street bail,” which denies people access to immediate and free legal advice.

Spokesperson Tim Crosland said that if hundreds insist on their right to legal advice at a police station, “the charade will be exposed,” and it will be harder for officers to arrest all those taking part.

“Any law that is so obviously wrong that it meets mass public opposition quickly becomes unenforceable, as it was with the poll tax in 1990, and the government will have to scrap it,” he said.

Protesters have also been advised to “go floppy” to “refuse to assist the police in the process of unlawful arrest.”

A Met spokesperson warned: “Attempts to overwhelm the justice system are misguided and plans are in place to arrest, investigate and prosecute significant numbers of people each week if necessary.”

Some 700 people have been arrested during such demonstrations, prompting Amnesty International to launch a global campaign to protect the right to protest in Britain.

The charity has written to chief prosecutors, reminding them of Britain’s obligations under International Human Rights Law, and calling for no further action against those arrested at Defend Our Juries protests.

Amnesty International UK chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said: “Peaceful protest is a fundamental right.

“People are understandably outraged by the ongoing genocide being committed in Gaza and are entitled under international human rights law to express their horror. 

“The protesters, half of whom were over the age of 60, were not inciting violence and it is entirely disproportionate to the point of absurdity to be treating them as ‘terrorists’.”

This week, Scottish prosecutors cancelled court dates for those charged with expressing support for Palestine Action, days after the Scottish Human Rights Commission advised that the arrests risked infringing on people’s rights to free expression.

Meanwhile, six Palestine Action members accused of breaking into an Israeli arms firm were told they may have to wait in custody for 18 months before their trial.

Prosecutors have said the alleged offences had a “terrorist connection.”

The members broke into a site belonging to Elbit Systems in Bristol last August.

The firm provides up to 85 per cent of the Israeli military’s drones and land-based equipment, and has been a key supplier during the genocide in Gaza.

The judge cited court capacity as the reason for the delay.