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- Defend Our Juries, the campaign group organizing the protest, said 1,500 people were taking part, holding signs reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”
- More than 700 people were arrested at earlier protests, and 138 have been charged under the Terrorism Act
LONDON: More than 400 people were arrested in London on Saturday during a tense protest in support of the Palestine Action group, which has been banned under terror laws, police said.
Defend Our Juries, the campaign group organizing the protest, said 1,500 people were taking part, holding signs reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
Within minutes, police began arresting the demonstrators, as bystanders chanted “Shame on you” and “Met Police, pick a side, justice or genocide.” There were scuffles and angry exchanges as officers dragged away demonstrators who went limp as they were removed from the crowd.
“Expressing support for a proscribed organization is a criminal offense under the Terrorism Act,” the Metropolitan Police force said on social media. “Where our officers see offenses, we will make arrests.”
The capital’s Metropolitan Police force (Met) had warned people that it would not hesitate to arrest anyone who explicitly expressed support for the prohibited group.
The Met said in a statement late on Saturday that it had arrested “more than 425 people... in relation to the protest.”
“The majority of these arrests were made for supporting a proscribed organization,” the force said.
Terrorism Act
More than 700 people were arrested at earlier protests, and 138 have been charged under the Terrorism Act.
Mike Higgins, 62, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, was arrested last month but returned to demonstrate on Saturday.
“And I’m a terrorist? That’s the joke of it,” he said. “I’ve already been arrested under the Terrorism Act and I suspect I will be today.
“Of course I’ll keep coming back. What choice do I have?”
Polly Smith, a 74-year-old retiree, said those at the rally “are not terrorists,” adding: “The ban must be lifted.”
Nigel, a 62-year-old CEO of a recycling company who declined to give his surname, said the government’s ban imposed in July was “totally inappropriate.”
“They should spend more time working on trying to stop genocide, rather than trying to stop protesters,” he told AFP before being arrested as protesters chanted “Shame on you!” at police.
Skirmishes broke out between officers and demonstrators who tried to prevent arrests.
More than 25 people were arrested for alleged “assaults on police officers and other public order offenses,” the Met said.
‘Intolerable abuse’
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Claire Smart said officers had been subjected to “intolerable” abuse, including being punched, kicked and spat on.
Palestine Action was banned under the UK’s Terrorism Act of 2000 following acts of vandalism including at a Royal Air Force base, which caused an estimated £7 million ($10 million) in damage.
Critics, including the United Nations and campaign groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have condemned the ban as legal overreach and a threat to free speech.
More than 800 people had already been arrested before Saturday’s demonstration, with 138 charged with supporting or encouraging support for a proscribed organization.
Most face six months in prison if convicted but organizers of the rallies could be sentenced to up to 14 years if found guilty.
The government has been granted permission to appeal an earlier ruling which allowed Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori to challenge the ban.
A separate pro-Palestinian demonstration saw several thousand people take to the streets elsewhere in London on Saturday, as Israel launched new strikes on Gaza, with the stated aim of seizing Gaza City to defeat the militant group Hamas.
Direct action protests
The government proscribed Palestine Action in July after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and vandalized planes to protest against what they called Britain’s support for Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza. The activists sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes and caused further damage with crowbars.
Proscription made it a crime to publicly support the organization. Membership of, or support for, the group is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Palestine Action has carried out direct action protests in the UK since it formed in 2020, including breaking into facilities owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems UK, and has targeted other sites in Britain that participants believe have links with the Israeli military.
The group has targeted defense companies and national infrastructure, and officials say their actions have caused millions of pounds in damage that affect national security.
Banning the group, then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said, “The assessments are very clear, this is not a nonviolent organization.”
Palestine Action has won approval from the High Court to challenge the ban, a ruling the government is seeking to overturn. The case is ongoing, with a hearing scheduled for Sept. 25.
Supporters say the ban stifles free speech
The UN human rights chief has criticized the British government’s stance, saying the new law “misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism.”
The decision to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist group “raises serious concerns that counterterrorism laws are being applied to conduct that is not terrorist in nature, and risks hindering the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms across the UK,” Volker Türk warned.
He added that according to international standards, terrorist acts should be confined to crimes such as those intended to cause death or serious injury or the taking of hostages.
Huda Ammori, Palestine Action’s co-founder, has condemned the government’s decision to ban it as “catastrophic” for civil liberties, leading to a “much wider chilling effect on freedom of speech.”
The group has been supported by prominent cultural figures including bestselling Irish author Sally Rooney, who said she planned to use the proceeds of her work “to keep backing Palestine Action and direct action against genocide.”
Israel — founded in part as a refuge in the wake of the Holocaust, when some 6 million European Jews were murdered — vehemently denies it is committing genocide.
Britain’s government stressed that proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist group does not affect other lawful groups — including pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel voices — campaigning or peacefully protesting.