Latest news with #PalestineCoalition
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Over 500 pro-Palestine protesters arrested during huge demonstration in London
Hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters have been arrested in London following a rally in support of the banned group Palestine Action. On Saturday, the protest saw up to 532 people arrested, with a majority taken into custody for demonstrating posters in support of the banned group. Metropolitan Police revealed 521 people, including one at a Palestine Coalition march, were at the Palestine Action at Westminster's Parliament Square. According to the BBC, six people were arrested for assaulting law enforcement, two for violating Public Order Act orders and one for disturbing the peace. Palestine Action was proscribed under the Terrorism Act in July, meaning supporters or members of the group could face up to 14 years in prison.
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
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 offence 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 organisation,' 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 offence 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'.
L'Orient-Le Jour
2 days ago
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Police arrest 522 who backed banned pro-Palestine group
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 offence 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 organisation," she added. 'Concerns' 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 offence 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".
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
UK police arrest 522 over support for Palestine Action at London protests
Police in London on Saturday arrested 522 people who were protesting against the United Kingdom's recent decision to ban the group Palestine Action, a tally thought to include the highest-ever recorded at a single protest in the British capital. The Metropolitan Police on Sunday updated its previous arrest tally of 466 and said that all but one of the 522 arrests took place at a protest in central London's Parliament Square and were for displaying placards backing Palestine Action. The other arrest for the same offence took place at nearby Russell Square as thousands rallied at a Palestine Coalition march demonstrating against Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed at least 61,430 people and wounded 153, 213. The Met made 10 further arrests on Saturday, including six for assaults on officers, though none were seriously injured, it added on Sunday. The protests were the latest in a series of rallies denouncing the British government's ban of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 on July 5, days after the group took responsibility for a break-in at an air force base in southern England that caused an estimated 7 million pounds ($9.4m) of damage to two aircraft. The group said its activists were responding to the UK's indirect military support for Israel amid the war in Gaza. Huda Ammori, cofounder of Palestine Action, said ahead of Saturday's protests that they would 'go down in our country's history as a momentous act of collective defiance of an unprecedented attack on our fundamental freedoms'. 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. In a statement following the latest mass arrests, Home Secretary 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 organisation,' she added. But critics, including the United Nations and groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have condemned the government's 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 on 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 offence 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 demonstration. In its update on 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 that 30 of those held on Saturday had been arrested at previous recent Palestine Action protests. Eighteen people remained in custody by Sunday lunchtime, but were set to be released on bail within hours, the Met added. It noted officers from its counterterrorism command will now 'work to put together the case files required to secure charges against those arrested as part of this operation'. Protesters call for release of Israeli captives Meanwhile, demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza marched in central London on Sunday. The protesters, who planned to march to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's residence in Downing Street for a rally, include Noga Guttman, a cousin of 24-year-old captive Evyatar David, who featured in a video that enraged Israelis when it was released by Hamas last week. The video showed an emaciated David saying he was digging his own grave inside a tunnel in Gaza. In the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, which triggered Israel's war on Gaza, more than 200 people were taken captive. Some 50 of the captives still have not been released. Twenty are thought to be alive. Israel last week announced its intention to seize 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 captives. 'We are united in one clear and urgent demand: the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,' Stop the Hate, a coalition of groups organising the march, said in a statement. 'Regardless of our diverse political views, this is not a political issue – it is a human one.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
More than 500 people arrested after Palestine Action protest - with almost half aged 60 and above
The number of people arrested after a protest in London on Saturday supporting banned group Palestine Action has risen to 532, police have said. Around half of them (259) were aged 60 and above - including almost 100 people who were in their 70s. Some 522 arrests were for displaying a placard in support of a proscribed organisation contrary to Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, according to the Metropolitan of 9pm on Saturday, the number was put at 466. Membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act. One of the arrests took place as the Palestine Coalition march formed in Russell Square, while 521 were at the protest in Parliament Square. Of those arrested, the biggest number (147) was in the 60-69 age group, while 97 people were aged between 70 and 79, and 15 others were between 80-89. Six were aged 17-19, sixty-five were in the 20-29 age group, 55 were aged 30-39, 45 were aged 40-49 and 89 were in the 50-59 age group. The average age of those arrested was 54, while some 263 of those arrested were male, 261 were female and eight either defined themselves as non-binary or did not disclose their gender. Among the arrests, six were for assaults on officers (none were seriously injured), one was for "obstructing a constable in the execution of his/her duty", two were for breaching Section 14 Public Order Act conditions, and one was for a racially aggravated public order offence. Hundreds of people attended Saturday's demonstration in Parliament Square, organised by Defend Our Juries, with the Metropolitan Police warning it would arrest anyone expressing support for Palestine Action. Anyone who was arrested as part of the operation was taken to one of two 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. They were given conditions not to attend future demonstrations related to Palestine Action. Those who refused to provide their details at the prisoner processing points and those who were found to have been arrested while already on bail, were taken to one of a number of Met Police custody suites. Read more from Sky News:Four members of UK family die in Portugal crashUK bracing for another heatwave Charity Amnesty International described the mass arrests under UK terrorism law as "deeply concerning". The crowd, sat on the grass inside Parliament Square, could be seen writing "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action" on white placards at 1pm, with the vast majority remaining silent. Meanwhile on Sunday, hundreds of people joined a march on Downing Street to urge the release of those being held in Gaza by Palestinian militant group Hamas. A scuffle broke out after at least two men shouted "Free Palestine" in front of the march. One man was seen being bundled to the ground close to Trafalgar Square after being surrounded by around a dozen people. Another man was seen being moved away by police officers after he began shouting.
