London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday that 150 people were detained during a demonstration opposing the UK’s decision to outlaw the group Palestine Action, and that additional arrests were underway.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza”, and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”, video taken by media at the scene showed.
Palestine Action has increasingly targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain, often spraying red paint, blocking entrances or damaging equipment. It accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Ban On Palestine Action
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, asked London’s High Court to give the go-ahead for a full challenge to the group’s proscription, which was made on the grounds it committed or participated in acts of terrorism.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Earlier this month, the High Court refused Ammori’s application to pause the ban and, following an unsuccessful last-ditch appeal, Palestine Action’s proscription came into effect just after midnight on July 5.
Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
However, Britain’s interior minister Yvette Cooper has said violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest and that Palestine Action’s activities – including breaking into a military base and damaging two planes – justify proscription.
Israel has repeatedly denied committing abuses in its war in Gaza, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023.
(With inputs from Reuters)
