Banksy mural shows judge beating protester amid Palestine Action crackdown

Anonymous street artist Banksy has unveiled a new mural on London’s High Court, depicting a judge striking a protester with a gavel, in what appears to be a commentary on the mass arrests of demonstrators backing the banned campaign group Palestine Action.

The anonymous artist shared images of the work on Instagram on Monday. The stencilled piece shows a bewigged judge bringing down a gavel on a protester sprawled on the ground, clutching a blood-stained placard.The mural was painted days after nearly 900 people were detained during a protest in London opposing the government’s proscription of Palestine Action.

The artwork has since been fully covered up by British police, after attracting curious bystanders.

In July, Britain designated the activist network a “terrorist organisation” after its members stormed a Royal Air Force base and damaged military aircraft. Supporting or belonging to the group now carries criminal penalties.But rights groups and campaigners have accused the British government of criminalising pro-Palestinian activism, saying the ban threatens the right to peaceful protest.

Lawyers and civil liberties advocates argue that proscribing Palestine Action sets a dangerous precedent for restricting activism on foreign policy issues, with Amnesty International calling the decision by the Labour government “a disturbing legal overreach”.