London police arrest 150 pro-Palestinian demonstrators defying new law
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London's Metropolitan Police posted on social media that officers are steadily working through the crowd and making further arrests.
Backers of Palestine Action have
staged a series of protests across the UK since early July, when Parliament outlawed the group and prohibited anyone from publicly showing support for it. Lawmakers banned the group as a terrorist organisation after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and vandalised two tanker aircraft.
Protesters gathered on Saturday afternoon in the square outside Parliament, with dozens displaying signs reading 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.' That was enough for police to step in.
'Within this crowd a significant number of people are displaying placards expressing support for Palestine Action, which is a proscribed group,' the Metropolitan Police Service said. 'Officers have moved in and are making arrests.'
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper moved to ban Palestine Action after activists broke into a British air force base in southern England on June 20 to protest British military support for Israel's war with Hamas. The activists sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes at the RAF Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire and caused further damage with crowbars.
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