Palestine Action has committed ‘violence' and ‘significant injury', No 10 says
Scotland Yard has said some 522 people were held over the weekend on suspicion of displaying an item in support of a proscribed group, out of the total 532 arrests during the policing operation at a march in central London.
Palestine Action said Downing Street's accusations were 'false and defamatory' and 'disproven by the Government's own intelligence assessment'.
The Government has said 'many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation' as the full details of the proscription process cannot be shared for national security reasons.
Asked on Monday whether ministers were reconsidering the decision to designate the group as a terrorist organisation following mass arrests on Saturday, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'No.
'Palestine Action was proscribed based on strong security advice following serious attacks the group has committed involving violence, significant injury and extensive criminal damage.'
Downing Street said the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre – an independent authority based within MI5 – had found the organisation had carried out three separate acts of terrorism.
'We've said that many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation, but the assessments are very clear: this is a violent organisation that has committed violence, significant injury and extensive criminal damage,' Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman said.
Speaking to broadcasters earlier on Monday, justice minister Alex Davies-Jones said supporters of the group would face 'the full force of the law'.
'We have credible reports of them targeting Jewish-owned businesses here in the United Kingdom, and there are other reasons, which we can't disclose because of national security,' she told BBC Breakfast.
Meanwhile, officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command will be working over the coming weeks to put together case files in relation to arrests made at a protest in London in Saturday, the force has said.
The demonstration was held in Parliament Square on Saturday, organised by Defend Our Juries, with the Metropolitan Police warning it would detain anyone expressing support for Palestine Action.
The majority of those arrested, 348, were aged 50 or over, according to a breakdown published by the Met on Sunday.
Detained protesters were taken to prisoner processing points in the Westminster area.
Those whose details could be confirmed were released on bail to appear at a police station at a future date.
There were a further 10 arrests, six for assaults on officers, two for breaching Public Order Act conditions, one arrest for obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty, and one for a racially aggravated public order offence, the force said.
Palestine Action's co-founder Huda Ammori said: 'Yvette Cooper and No 10's claim that Palestine Action is a violent organisation is false and defamatory, and even disproven by the Government's own intelligence assessment of Palestine Action's activities and the Home Office spokesperson's statement outside court just a few weeks ago.'
Ms Ammori said it was revealed in court – during her ongoing legal challenge to the ban – that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre's assessment acknowledged that the group does not advocate for violence against persons and the majority of its activities would not be classified as terrorism.
'Spraying red paint on war planes is not terrorism. Disrupting Israel's largest weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems by trespassing on their sites in Britain is not terrorism,' she said.
'It is the Israeli Defence Force and all those who arm and enable their war crimes who are the terrorists.'
She claimed the reason the Government has banned the group is 'because they capitulated to the Israeli embassy, arms manufacturers and pro-Israeli groups who lobbied them to ban us'.
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The Independent
36 minutes ago
- The Independent
I was arrested at the Palestine Action ban protest – and it all still seems surreal
It was certainly not part of any life plan for my 70s that I should be facing a charge under the 2000 Terrorism Act. However, as one of the 532 arrested in Parliament Square on Saturday, under Section 13 of the Act, that is where I am. And it still seems vaguely surreal. Section 13 relates to any public display indicating 'that one is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation' – in this case, Palestine Action. Our alleged crime is that we were directly supporting Palestine Action by holding up a sign calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza and the reversal of home secretary Yvette Cooper's dangerous decision to proscribe it as a terrorist organisation. So I sat there, mostly in silence, for two and a half hours before being arrested. I spent a lot of time looking around at all those holding identical signs ('I oppose genocide: I support Palestine Action'), and on one occasion burst out laughing at the absurd idea that these calm, predominantly old or middle-aged, middle-class citizens are now seen by our government as linked to or even the equivalent of members of al-Qaeda, the IRA, Boko Haram or the Wagner Group. One of the reasons why Mr Justice Chamberlain, sitting in the High Court on July 30, expedited the appeal by Palestine Action against its proscription (now to be heard in November) was that the home secretary failed to consult with any individual or organisation other than those who had been pressing for years for Palestine Action to be proscribed. Any sensible, non-partisan person could have told Yvette Cooper she was going to end up looking like a bit of a chump – and I bet you any money her civil servants did. Even the government's Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre's assessment acknowledged that 'Palestine Action does not advocate for violence against persons' – the very essence of terrorism. Weirdly, what I was most upset by was not the behaviour of the police, which I personally – though others had a different experience – found to be uniformly courteous and attentive, but the behaviour of all the no doubt well-meaning non-sitters, screaming insults at the police as they carried out their duties in removing us from Parliament Square. 'Shame on you, shame on you!' Shame on whom, I found myself asking? Shame, primarily, on our government. I'm in no doubt whatsoever that this government will be found, in due course, to have been complicit in the genocide being carried out in Gaza today – not just through continuing arms sales to Israel, but in its reckless refusal to act on stated duties to prevent genocide under international law. The vast majority of people here in the UK now see that genocide for what it really is. Seven days ago, a Jordanian flight to air-drop aid over Gaza revealed the full extent of the devastation wrought by Israel's assault on Gaza over the last two years. Just 48 hours after that, the commemoration of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima 80 years ago reminded us of all of those terrible scenes. It was hard to tell the difference. Yet, Cooper has doubled down on her determination to persuade us all that Palestine Action is a 'violent organisation.... causing significant injury to an individual'. Apparently, she can't reveal the evidence that lies behind that assertion because of national security. Let's be clear: it is not our national security that is at stake in this moment; it is the integrity of our ministers. Palestine Action has proved to be the most effective organisation in laying bare the extent of the UK government's complicity in the genocide in Gaza, through its direct action campaigning against some of the manufacturers of the weapons that are killing Palestinians day after bloody day. Has property been damaged in the actions? Yes, it has. Has that damage been costly to those involved? Yes, it has. That does not make Palestine Action a terrorist organisation, though. The government has so many other ways of prosecuting Palestine Action for what it has been doing, including criminal damage which already carries heavy penalties. But that would not have silenced Palestine Action. Opposing genocide is not terrorism. That's what brought all 532 of us to Parliament Square on Saturday, and I believe will now bring the whole country together.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Palestine Action terror ban too heavy-handed, former Supreme Court judge warns Starmer
The terror law that saw hundreds arrested for supporting Palestine Action is 'not consistent with basic rights to free speech' and should be changed, a former Supreme court judge has warned. Writing for the Independent, Lord Sumption said the Terror Act's definition of what amounts to support for a proscribed organisation is 'far too wide'. He warned that one of the criteria – wearing, carrying or displaying something that supports the group – goes too far and should be rowed back to avoid the more than 500 people arrested at Saturday's protest against the group's ban under terror laws from being criminalised. Urging the government to amend the Act, he said, 'merely indicating your support for a terrorist organisation without doing anything to assist or further its acts should not be a criminal offence'. He also suggested that many of the more than 500 people arrested over the weekend, nearly half of whom are over the age of 60, should not be prosecuted, saying there was a 'simple solution' for the prosecuting authorities. 'The director of prosecution's consent is required for any prosecution of those who have been arrested. Where a demonstrator acted peacefully, he would be wise not to authorise a prosecution.' But he said that 'in the longer term' the 'right course would be to amend the Terrorism Act so as to redefine in a more sensible way the offence of supporting a proscribed organisation'. Sir Keir Starmer is facing a furious backlash against the arrests and has been warned he is making a mistake of 'poll tax proportions'. Politicians from across the political divide have warned of an excessive use of counterterrorism powers that were riding roughshod over the right to peaceful protest. The Metropolitan Police confirmed on Sunday that 532 arrests were made, 522 for displaying an item in support of a proscribed organisation at the march in central London. Civil liberties groups, including Amnesty and Liberty, said the arrests were 'disproportionate to the point of absurdity' and that the government's terrorism laws were a threat to freedom of expression. Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti told The Independent the 'proscription of Palestine Action is in danger of becoming a mistake of poll tax proportions' – a reference to Margaret Thatcher's unpopular policy that triggered civil disobedience and riots. Home secretary Yvette Cooper has defended the police but suggested those who were arrested may not 'know the full nature of this organisation'. Her comment led to calls for the authorities to be more 'clear-cut' about why they proscribed Palestine Action last month. The group hit the headlines earlier this year when four members were accused of causing around £7m worth of damage to aircraft at RAF Brize Norton. After the arrests, Downing Street defended the move to ban the group, saying it was 'violent', had committed 'significant injury' as well as criminal damage, and that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre had found the organisation had carried out three separate acts of terrorism. But former Conservative cabinet minister Sir David Davis told The Independent the arrests were an 'excessive use of counterterrorism law', adding 'they've gone over the top'. He said: 'We've not really been given any evidence for the reasoning behind proscribing Palestine Action. I mean, they broke in and painted an aircraft, they did not set bombs or anything. So that's the first question. What was the criteria? And then secondly, should you be arresting lots of people because they support a particular side and put up a banner?' He added: 'The authorities should be more clear cut about why they have proscribed Palestine Action.' Meanwhile, veteran backbencher Diane Abbott said the government is in danger of making itself look 'both draconian and foolish'. And former Labour cabinet minister Peter Hain described the mass arrests as 'madness' and said Palestine Action was not 'equivalent to real terrorist groups like al-Qaeda or Islamic State [which is] why I voted against its ban'.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Palestine Action co-founder accuses ministers of making defamatory claims
The co-founder of Palestine Action has accused ministers of making false and defamatory allegations about the banned group, and of contradicting their own intelligence assessments in an attempt to justify recent mass arrests. The government has come under pressure to justify the detention of 532 people arrested over the weekend under the Terrorism Act – half of whom were 60 or older – on suspicion of showing support for Palestine Action. The number of people arrested for peaceful protests, together with the images of older people being led away and the demands placed on the criminal justice system, have led many to call into question the criminalisation of so many people. On Monday, a Downing Street spokesperson responded by saying Palestine Action, which last month became the first direct action protest group to be banned, was 'a violent organisation that has committed violence, significant injury, extensive criminal damage'. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, told the BBC that Palestine Action 'is not a non-violent organisation' and claimed that court restrictions meant people 'don't know the full nature of this organisation'. But Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, said: 'Yvette Cooper and No 10's claim that Palestine Action is a violent organisation is false and defamatory and even disproven by the government's own intelligence assessment of Palestine Action's activities … 'It was revealed in court during my ongoing legal challenge to the ban that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre's (JTAC'S) assessment acknowledges that 'Palestine Action does not advocate for violence against persons' and that the 'majority' of its activities 'would not be classified as terrorism'. 'Spraying red paint on war planes is not terrorism. Disrupting Israel's largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems, by trespassing on their sites in Britain is not terrorism. It is the Israeli Defense Forces and all those who arm and enable their war crimes who are the terrorists.' JTAC, a government body based within MI5, produced a secret report on 7 March which was disclosed in the high court. While recommending banning Palestine Action, JTAC said the group 'primarily uses direct action tactics', which typically resulted in minor damage to property. 'Common tactics include graffiti, petty vandalism, occupation and lock-ons,' it added. Defend Our Juries, which has organised multiple demonstrations, including Saturday's, in support of Palestine Action, also highlighted Whitehall officials' description – again in documents revealed in court – of a ban as 'relatively novel' as 'there was no known precedent of an organisation being proscribed on the basis that it was concerned in terrorism mainly due to its use or threat of action involving serious damage to property'. A Defend Our Juries spokesperson said: 'It is despicable that under political pressure, Yvette Cooper is now actively misleading the British public about the nature of Palestine Action, knowing that if people come to their defence to counter her disinformation, she can have them jailed for 14 years [because they could be deemed to supporting a proscribed group].' The group said many hundreds of people had already committed to the next protest, which is likely to take place in early September and to be on an even larger scale. Uncertainty remains over the status of charges and prosecutions. Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Magistrates' Association, said: 'Based on the information that we currently have, and the statement put out by the Metropolitan Police yesterday [Sunday], it could take days and possibly weeks for decisions to be made on whether or not to charge any of those arrested over the weekend. Many of these cases may also be heard in the crown courts, rather than magistrates courts.' Magistrates courts hear less serious cases, although some charges under section 12 of the Terrorism Act are 'either way', meaning the defendant can choose whether to be tried before magistrates or a jury in the crown court. The Defend Our Juries spokesperson said: 'Personally I would go to the crown court because I know where the British public is, both on the genocide in Gaza and secondly on the British government's support for it, and thirdly on people not being allowed to express their opinions.' However, they added that they expected most charges to be laid under section 13, which are all heard in the magistrates courts, as the criminal justice system would not be able to cope with so many jury trials. This article was amended on 12 August 2025 to clarify that offences under section 13 of the Terrorism Act are dealt with by magistrates; offences under section 12 are dealt with 'either way'.
