Protest is not Terrorism

This letter is posted on the Defend our Juries website https://defendourjuries.net/lift-the-ban/open-letter/  along with a press release that includes quotations from signatories at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FCFR4qOmbMheu2aT6btuhmnzcNZmZS21byxNWXJiFxk/  . The Guardian published a story about it on 24 April 2026 here https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/apr/24/scholars-writers-artists-defy-ban-palestine-action-letter-judges 

24 April 2026,

Addressed to the Court of Appeal:

We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action, 

Signed:

• Umberto Albarella, Professor of Zooarchaeology, University of Sheffield
• Anne Alexander, researcher, author and UCU activist
• Tariq Ali, writer
• Maria Aristodemou, Emerita Professor of Law, Birkbeck
• Sandra L. Babcock, Clinical Professor of Law, Cornell Law School
• Étienne Balibar, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Paris X, Nanterre
• David Bell, psychoanalyst, British Psychoanalytic Society; Retired Consultant Psychiatrist, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust 
• Chetan Bhatt, Anthony Giddens Professor of Social Theory, London School of Economics
• Marion Birch, editor of Medicine, Conflict & Survival, Taylor & Francis/Routledge
• Ross Birrell, Professor of Contemporary Art Practice & Critical Theory, The Glasgow School of Art
• Matt Black, DJ and founder of record label, Ninja Tune
• Leah Borromeo, journalist
• Ray Brassier, Professor of Philosophy, American University of Beirut
• Timothy Brennan, Professor of Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature, University of Minnesota
• Nathan Brown, Professor of English and Director of the Centre for Expanded Poetics, Concordia University, Montréal
• Wendy Brown, UPS Foundation Professor of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
• Susan Buck-Morss, Distinguished Professor, CUNY Graduate Centre
• Sebastian Budgen, Editorial Director, Verso Books
• Judith Butler, Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School, Department of Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley
• Alex Callinicos, Emeritus Professor of European Studies, King’s College London
• Robin Celikates, Professor of Philosophy, Freie Universität Berlin
• John Chalcraft, Professor of Politics, London School of Economics
• Simon Choat, Associate Professor and Head of Department of Economics, Kingston University
• Peter Chonka, Senior Lecturer in Global Digital Cultures, King’s College London
• Justin Clemens, Associate Professor in Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne
• Rebecca Comay, Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Literature, University of Toronto
• Jodi Dean, Professor of Politics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York
• Stéphane Douailler, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Paris 8 – Saint-Denis
• Brian Eno, musician
• David Epstein FRS, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, University of Warwick
• Başak Ertür, Reader, Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths, University of London
• Roberto Esposito, Professor of Philosophy, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
• Harriet Evans, Professor Emerita Chinese Cultural Studies, University of Westminster; Visiting Professor, Anthropology, London School of Economics
• Andrew Feinstein, author, Executive Director of Shadow World Investigations
• Patrick ffrench, Professor of French, King’s College London
• John Bellamy Foster, Emeritus Professor at the University of Oregon and editor of Monthly Review
• Marianna Fotaki, Professor of Business Ethics, University of Warwick Business School
• Mariam Motamedi Fraser, Senior Research Fellow, UCL Geography; Emeritus Professor, Goldsmiths University of London
• Des Freedman, Professor of Media and Communication Studies, Goldsmiths University of London
• Verónica Gago, Professor of Social Sciences, University of Buenos Aires
• Samir Gandesha, Professor of Global Humanities and Director of the Institute for the Humanities, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
• Lindsey German, national convenor of the Stop the War Coalition
• Raymond Geuss, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Cambridge
• Neve Gordon FAcSS, Professor of International Law, Queen Mary University of London
• Ian Gough FBA, Visiting Professor, London School of Economics
• Greg Grandin, Peter V. and C. Vann Woodward Professor of History, Yale University
• Penny Green FAcSS, Professor of Law and Globalisation, Queen Mary University of London
• Yasmin Gunaratnam, Professor in Social Justice, Centre for Education, Communication and Society, King’s College London
• Amy Hagopian, Emeritus Professor, University of Washington School of Public Health
• Peter Hallward, Professor of Philosophy, Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy, London
• Michael Hardt, Professor of Literature, Duke University
• Sudhir Hazareesingh, CUF Lecturer in Politics and Senior Fellow, Balliol College, University of Oxford
• Clare Hemmings, Professor of Feminist Theory, London School of Economics and Political Science
• Billy Howle, actor
• Michael Hrebeniak, founder and convenor, New School of the Anthropocene; Associate Professor of Film Poetics, University College London
• Sarah Keenan, Senior Lecturer, Department of Law, Queen Mary University of London
• Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor Emeritus of Modern Arab Studies, Department of History, Columbia University
• Laleh Khalili, Professor of Gulf Studies, University of Exeter
• Gholam Khiabany, Reader in Media and Communications, Goldsmiths, University of London
• Bruno Leipold, Assistant Professor of Political Theory, London School of Economics
• Malcolm Levitt FRS, Professor of Chemistry, University of Southampton
• Darryl Li, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago
• Hans Lindahl, Chair of Global Law, Queen Mary University of London; Emeritus Chair of Philosophy of Law, Tilburg University
• Frédéric Lordon, Research director, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
• Thembi Luckett, Research Fellow in Human Geography, Durham University
• Andreas Malm, writer and Senior Lecturer in Human Ecology, Lund University
• James Martel, Professor of Political Science, San Francisco State University 
• Tracy McNulty, Professor of Comparative Literature and Romance Studies, Cornell University
• Angela McRobbie FBA, Emeritus Professor, Goldsmiths University of London; Honorary Professor, Birmingham University
• Mandy Merck, Professor Emerita of Media Arts, Royal Holloway, University of London
• Lina Meruane, Chilean writer and scholar
• Sandro Mezzadra, Professor of Political Theory, University of Bologna
• China Miéville, writer
• David Mond, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics, University of Warwick
• Vittorio Morfino, Professor of Philosophy, University of Milano Bicocca
• Karma Nabulsi, Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford
• Robert Del Naja, musician and artist
• Mica Nava, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies, University of East London
• Mark Neocleous, Professor of the Critique of Political Economy, Brunel University London
• Simon O’Hara, Assistant Branch Secretary and Treasurer, Warwickshire NEU
• Abdaljawad Omar, Assistant Professor in Cultural Studies and Philosophy, Birzeit University
• Ilan Pappé, Professor of History and Middle Eastern Studies, and director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies, University of Exeter
• Reverend Dr Sue Parfitt
• Paul Patton, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of New South Wales
• Jonathon Porritt, author and activist
• Charles Post, Professor of Sociology, Graduate Center, City University of New York
• Vijay Prashad, Director, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
• Rolando Prats, Chief Editor, Communis Press
• Nicola Pratt, Professor of the International Politics of the Middle East, University of Warwick
• Jasbir Puar, Distinguished Faculty of Arts Professor, University of British Columbia
• Anupama Ranawana, Research Associate, Theology and Religious Studies, Durham University
• Jacques Rancière, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University of Paris 8 – Saint-Denis
• Jason Read, Professor of Philosophy, University of Southern Maine
• John Rees, co-founder, Stop the War Coalition
• Matthieu Renault, Professor of Philosophy, Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès 
• Bruce Robbins, Old Dominion Foundation Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University
• William I. Robinson, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara
• Sally Rooney, novelist
• Jacqueline Rose, Professor of Humanities and co-director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, University of London
• Jonathan Rosenhead, Emeritus Professor of Operational Research, London School of Economics 
• Catherine Rottenberg, Professor of Media, Communications, and Cultural Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London
• Yvette Russell, Professor of Law and Feminist Theory, University of Bristol
• Donald Sassoon, Emeritus Professor of Comparative European History, Queen Mary, University of London
• Charles Secrett, activist and former Executive Director, Friends of the Earth
• Lynne Segal, Professor Emerita of Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck, University of London
• Tanya Serisier, Professor of Feminist Theory, Birkbeck, University of London
• Benedict Seymour, Lecturer, MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths, University of London
• Richard Seymour, Salvage
• Nadine Shah, musician
• Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Professor of International Relations, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford
• Nikhil Pal Singh, Chair, Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University
• Panagiotis Sotiris, Assistant Professor of Social and Political Philosophy, Department of Sociology, University of the Aegean
• William Spence, Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics, Queen Mary University of London
• Vicki Squire, Professor of International Politics, University of Warwick
• Elettra Stimilli, Professor of Philosophy, Sapienza Università di Roma
• Derek Summerfield, honorary senior lecturer, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
• Adam Swift, Professor of Political Theory, University College London
• Rei Terada, Professor Emerita of Comparative Literature, University of California, Irvine
• Greta Thunberg, activist
• Alberto Toscano, Emeritus Professor of Critical Theory, Goldsmiths University of London
• Enzo Traverso, Professor in the Humanities, Cornell University
• Rashmi Varma, Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies, University of Warwick
• Françoise Vergès, Senior research fellow, Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism and Racialisation, University College London
• Jim Vernon, Professor of Philosophy, York University, Toronto
• Jeffery R. Webber, Professor of Politics, York University, Toronto
• Eyal Weizman, founding director of Forensic Architecture, and Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths, University of London
• Julia Welland, Associate Professor of War Studies, University of Warwick
• Karen Wells, Professor of International Development & Childhood Studies, Birkbeck, University of London; Director, Birkbeck Institute for Social Research
• Kalpana Wilson, Senior Lecturer, International Development Birkbeck, University of London
• Jessica Whyte, Scientia Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of New South Wales 
• Jim Wolfreys, Reader in French and European Politics, King’s College London
• Jan Woolf, writer

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This letter is posted on the Defend our Juries website https://defendourjuries.net/lift-the-ban/open-letter/  along with a press release that includes quotations from signatories at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FCFR4qOmbMheu2aT6btuhmnzcNZmZS21byxNWXJiFxk/  . The Guardian published a story about it on 24 April 2026 here https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/apr/24/scholars-writers-artists-defy-ban-palestine-action-letter-judges 

If you would like to add your name there’s a a sign-on form posted at https://actionnetwork.org/forms/97d9a1185fd4b3c9c0ec6561b649adae?hash=4f6a2694996c1543a78fbc4abafad0e1