Jewish human rights barrister, 94, arrested for supporting Palestine Action

What the report says

Margaret Owen, a 94-year-old Jewish human rights barrister and OBE recipient, was arrested in Liverpool at a protest outside the Labour Party conference after repeatedly displaying support for Palestine Action. Al Jazeera reports that Owen had been trying for months to provoke an arrest, including at several London demonstrations and by placing a sign with the same message on her home window after the group was banned under the UK Terrorism Act in July 2025.

According to the article, police detained Owen during a rally organized by Defend Our Juries, an activist group campaigning to lift the ban. Merseyside Police said 82 people were arrested at the same protest on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organization. The Metropolitan Police did not address Owen specifically, but told Al Jazeera that arrests may not always happen if officers do not witness an offense or if the legal threshold is not met at the time.

Owen said she wanted to be arrested because she believes legal professionals can give the campaign greater legitimacy. The piece also places her case in the wider UK debate over Palestine Action, which has drawn arrests of protesters, including older activists, as well as criticism from campaigners who argue the ban uses counterterrorism powers too broadly.

Al Jazeera further notes Owen’s personal ties to Labour Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband through his late mother, Marion Kozak, and says Owen has long been critical of Israel, shaped in part by her family history and earlier experiences in Israel. Her own case is expected to be revisited later in the year, when she may learn whether she will be charged.