Over 500 arrested in London protest backing banned group Palestine Action

The number of people arrested following a protest at Parliament Square, London, on Saturday in support of the banned group Palestine Action has risen to 532, the Metropolitan Police Service has confirmed. Around half of those detained — 259 individuals — were aged 60 and above, including almost 100 people in their 70s, according to Sky News. The vast majority of those arrested were detained for displaying placards declaring their support for Palestine Action. Police updated their earlier totals, stating that 522 people were arrested for supporting a proscribed organisation in violation of anti-terror laws. Another 10 were arrested on a variety of charges, including assaulting and obstructing police officers. According to the BBC, this was the largest protest since the government proscribed Palestine Action in July under the Terrorism Act, making membership of or support for the group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Zarah Sultana, MP for Coventry South, voiced her support for those arrested, calling them “heroes.” She criticised Keir Starmer, Yvette Cooper, David Lammy, and the rest of the Labour government, accusing them of “enabling genocide” and saying they “aren’t fit to lace their boots.”

Supporters of Palestine Action organised the protest to emphasise their belief that the government is illegally restricting freedom of expression by banning a direct action organisation that has challenged its policies. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who oversees law enforcement in Britain, rejected this characterisation. She said Palestine Action was banned after committing serious attacks involving violence, significant injuries, and extensive criminal damage. “The right to protest is one we protect fiercely, but this is very different from displaying support for this one specific and narrow, proscribed organisation,” Cooper said in a statement. “Many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation, but the assessments are very clear: this is not a non-violent organisation,” she added.

Elderly Protesters Arrested

Police released updated information following widespread media coverage showing elderly protesters being carted off by officers. Among those arrested was 89-year-old retired psychotherapist La Pethick, who told The Times that her five grandchildren supported her actions. “We are having our right to peaceful protest taken away,” she said. Images and video footage of elderly protesters being arrested circulated widely on social media. One video showed police carrying away an elderly woman, with officers appearing to use force against other demonstrators. Another clip showed the arrest of a disabled blind man in a wheelchair. Nick, a retired nurse, told Middle East Eye it was the first time he had willingly broken the law. “If not today, when? We have to say in mass, in bulk — hundreds, thousands of us — enough is enough. Stop the genocide. Stop the massacre,” he said. While acknowledging it was awful to take such action, he added it would be even more awful not to. “I’ve seen things that cannot be unseen,” he said, “and if we don’t protest about it, we’re culpable.” A first-time protester described the proscription of Palestine Action as “unjust and immoral,” arguing that while the group has caused damage to property, it has not caused terror and should not be labelled a terrorist organisation. He said he was protesting to stand up against what he sees as further infringements on their rights. One protester criticised the arrests, claiming police began detaining people from the back during the first hour. “That was pretty cowardly of them,” she said. Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, described the mass arrests as “deeply concerning.” “We have long criticised UK terrorism law for being excessively broad and vaguely worded, and a threat to freedom of expression,” he said. “These arrests demonstrate that our concerns were justified.” Parliament voted to ban 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 defence contractors and other sites in Britain they believe have links to the Israeli military. Supporters of Palestine Action are challenging the ban in court, arguing that the government has violated human rights laws by declaring the group a terrorist organisation.