Palestine Action: The Truth Behind the Ban: Dispatches

Channel 4 Dispatches investigates the truth behind the Government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, in a major new investigation that examines the legal, political and civil liberty implications of the ban. The Government’s decision has triggered widespread controversy, mass protests across the UK, and the arrest of more than 2,500 people who have publicly expressed support for the group.

The programme, produced by Lion Television, an All3Media company, includes an exclusive interview with a Palestine Action activist this week acquitted of aggravated burglary and the first face-to-face interview with Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, since Parliament proscribed the group.

Dispatches reporter Matt Shea asks why the Government felt compelled to proscribe Palestine Action alongside internationally recognised terrorist organisations such as ISIS and neo-Nazi groups and explores the evidence and reasoning behind the unprecedented move.

 The investigation includes interviews with Jonathan Hall KC, the Government’s Independent Reviewer on Terrorism Legislation; Lord Hain, who was in government when the Terrorism Act was introduced in 2000; and Lord Walney, Former Independent Adviser on Political Violence and Disruption. Dispatches also speaks to an activist who has been arrested for allegedly organising protests against the ban.

Daniel Pearl, Creative Director at Lion Television, an All3Media company, said, “This is a rigorous and timely investigation into a decision with profound consequences for democratic protest and freedom of expression in the UK. Dispatches set out to examine the facts behind the ban, and to give viewers the clearest possible understanding of how and why this proscription came about.”

Jo Potts, Commissioning Editor, Channel 4, said: “This film explores a highly contentious decision that has far-reaching implications, asking important questions that have been the subject of significant public debate. It is an investigation that sits within the long Dispatches tradition of investigating complex issues in the public interest at a time when long-form, duly impartial and rigorous journalism could not be more important.”