UK police arrest more than 50 at protest for banned Palestine Action group
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain's support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
UK police arrested 522 who backed banned pro-Palestine group
LONDON: London's police service said Sunday that officers had arrested 522 people the previous day for breaching anti-terror laws by supporting the recently proscribed group Palestine Action. In an update to its previous arrest tally, the Met said all but one of those 522 arrests took place at a Parliament Square protest and were for displaying placards backing Palestine Action. The other arrest for the same offense took place at nearby Russell Square as thousands rallied at a Palestine Coalition march demonstrating against Israel's war in Gaza. The 522 total is thought to be the highest ever recorded at a single protest in the UK capital. The Met made 10 further arrests, including six for assaults on officers, though none were seriously injured, it added. The force said the average age of those arrested on Saturday was 54, with six teenagers, 97 aged in their 70s and 15 octogenarians. A roughly equal number of men and women were detained. The government outlawed Palestine Action on July 5, days after it took responsibility for a break-in at an air force base in southern England that caused an estimated £7 million ($9.3 million) of damage to two aircraft. The group said its activists were responding to Britain's indirect military support for Israel amid the war in Gaza. Britain's interior ministry has insisted that Palestine Action was also suspected of other 'serious attacks' that involved 'violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage.' In a statement following the latest mass arrests, interior minister Yvette Cooper defended the government's decision, insisting: 'UK national security and public safety must always be our top priority.' 'The assessments are very clear — this is not a non-violent organization,' she added. But critics, including the United Nations and groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have condemned its proscription as legal overreach and a threat to free speech. 'If this was happening in another country, the UK government would be voicing grave concerns about freedom of speech and human rights,' Greenpeace UK's co-executive director Areeba Hamid said Saturday. She added the government had 'now sunk low enough to turn the Met into thought police, direct action into terrorism.' Police across the UK have made scores of similar arrests since July 5, when being a member of Palestine Action or supporting the group became a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Police announced this week that the first three people had been charged in the English and Welsh criminal justice system with such backing following their arrests at a July 5 demo. In its update Sunday, the Met revealed a further 26 case files following other arrests on that day are due to be submitted to prosecutors 'imminently' and that more would follow related to later protests. It believes 30 of those held Saturday had been arrested at previous recent Palestine Action protests. Eighteen people remained in custody Sunday lunchtime, but were set to be bailed within hours, the Met added. It noted officers from its counter-terrorism command will now 'work to put together the case files required to secure charges against those arrested as part of this operation.'
Arab News
7 hours ago
- Arab News
Amnesty International slams ‘deeply concerning' UK arrests of Palestine Action protesters
LONDON: Amnesty International has branded reports that police in the UK arrested 474 people at a Palestine Action protest 'deeply concerning.' It comes after a demonstration was held in Parliament Square in central London in support of the group, which was banned by the UK government earlier this year as a terrorist organization. The Metropolitan Police said it was the largest spate of arrests it had made at a single event in over a decade, and that 466 people at the protest were arrested under the Terrorism Act. Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International's UK chief executive, said: 'The protesters in Parliament Square were not inciting violence and it is entirely disproportionate to the point of absurdity to be treating them as terrorists. 'Instead of criminalizing peaceful demonstrators, the government should be focusing on taking immediate and unequivocal action to put a stop to Israel's genocide and ending any risk of UK complicity in it.' Those arrested included healthcare professionals, a blind wheelchair user, and former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg. Many of the protesters were silently holding placards stating: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.' The group behind the protest, Defend Our Juries, said around 700 people attended the event and that they posed 'no danger to the public at large.' Elsewhere, a woman was arrested in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for wearing a T-shirt supporting Palestine Action. The woman was detained while attending an anti-racism protest, where she was filmed being taken by police officers on suspicion of 'possessing an article, namely a sign or T-shirt, that indicates support for Palestine Action.' Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland director of Amnesty International UK, said: 'Many people are justifiably angered by the ongoing genocide in Gaza and are concerned about UK complicity. Under international human rights law, they have every right to voice their concerns. 'The individual who joined a Refugees Welcome rally in Belfast was not promoting violence, and it is wholly disproportionate for the PSNI to treat her as a terrorist. 'UK terrorism laws pose a serious risk to free expression. Rather than targeting peaceful protesters, the government should be taking swift and decisive measures to end Israel's genocide.' Under UK terrorism legislation, membership of or support for a proscribed group is a criminal offense carrying a prison sentence of up to 14 years. Palestine Action was banned following a series of break-ins at secure facilities in the UK, including one in which activists caused criminal damage to military aircraft at a Royal Air Force base in the town of Brize Norton.
Al Arabiya
8 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Demonstrators seeking release of Gaza hostages to march in London
Police in London braced for another day of demonstrations on Sunday as the war in Gaza continues to inflame tensions across the United Kingdom. Demonstrators demanding the immediate release of all the remaining hostages in Gaza plan to march through central London to the prime minister's residence at No. 10 Downing Street on Sunday afternoon. The march comes a day after police arrested 474 people at a protest in support of a banned pro-Palestinian organization. For the latest updates on the Israel-Palestine conflict, visit our dedicated page. Among those expected to attend the rally is Noga Guttman, a cousin of 24-year-old hostage Evyatar David, who was featured in a video that enraged Israelis when it was released by Hamas militants last week. The video showed an emaciated David saying he is digging his own grave inside a tunnel in Gaza. Hamas-led militants kidnapped 251 people when they attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Some 50 of the hostages still haven't been released, of whom 20 are thought to be alive. Israel last week announced its intention to occupy Gaza City as part of a plan to end the war and bring the captives home. Family members and many international leaders have condemned the plan, saying it would lead to more bloodshed and endanger the hostages. 'We are united in one clear and urgent demand: the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,' Stop the Hate, a coalition of groups organizing the march, said in a statement. 'Regardless of our diverse political views, this is not a political issue — it is a human one.' On Saturday, police arrested hundreds of people in central London as demonstrators sought to pressure the government to overturn its decision to ban the group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization. Legislation passed last month makes it a crime to publicly support the group. The Metropolitan Police Service said it arrested 466 people for supporting Palestine Action. A further eight were arrested on other charges, including assaults on police officers. The government banned Palestine Action after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged two tanker planes to protest British support for the war in Gaza . Palestine Action had previously targeted Israeli defense contractors and other sites in Britain that they believe have links with the Israeli military. Supporters of Palestine Action are challenging the ban in court, saying the government has gone too far in declaring a direct action group a terrorist organization.
