Police in London arrested demonstrators outside Parliament on Saturday after hundreds defied a government ban on the extremist group Palestine Action, which has been classified as a terrorist organization.
Roughly 1,500 people joined the protest, organized by campaign group Defend Our Juries, holding signs declaring support for Palestine Action. Within minutes, Metropolitan Police officers moved in, making arrests as crowds chanted “Shame on you” and “Met Police, pick a side, justice or genocide.”
“Expressing support for a proscribed organization is a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act,” police stated, adding that officers would act whenever violations were observed.
The crackdown follows earlier demonstrations where more than 700 people were arrested and 138 charged under anti-terror laws. Among those returning was 62-year-old Mike Higgins, a blind man in a wheelchair who had previously been arrested. “And I’m a terrorist? That’s the joke of it,” Higgins said before predicting he would be detained again.
Palestine Action was officially banned in July after members broke into a Royal Air Force base, vandalizing aircraft to protest British support for Israel. Activists sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes and inflicted further damage with crowbars.
Despite claiming to be a peaceful protest movement, the group’s violent actions against military property and its aggressive campaigns against companies tied to Israel prompted the government to move against it. Palestine Action is now challenging the ban in court.
The arrests underscore the government’s hardline stance under the Terrorism Act, aiming to prevent the group and its supporters from operating under the cover of “protest” while engaging in actions that authorities say directly aid hostile forces.
