LONDON – Metropolitan Police arrested more than 20 people on suspicion of terrorism offences Saturday after protesters gathered in Parliament Square to demonstrate support for Palestine Action, hours after the pro-Palestinian group was officially designated a terrorist organisation under UK law.
The arrests came as the controversial ban took effect at midnight Friday, making membership of or support for Palestine Action punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The designation places the direct action group on par with organisations such as al-Qaeda and ISIS under British law.
Officers surrounded dozens of protesters who had gathered beneath the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, holding placards reading “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” The demonstration, organised by the Defend Our Juries group, began at approximately 1:10pm, with police beginning arrests around 1:30pm.
Officers are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square,” the Metropolitan Police stated on X, formerly Twitter. “The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence. Arrests are being made.”
Among those arrested was 83-year-old Reverend Sue Parfitt, who was led away by police officers. Protesters chanted “shame” as those detained were moved past the Gandhi statue, with cries of “Met Police, you are puppets of the Zionist state” and “leave them alone” heard throughout the square.
One woman was seen lying on the floor in handcuffs before being taken away by officers. While being detained, she declared: “Free Palestine, stop the genocide, I oppose genocide, I support the rights of the Palestinian people, I support freedom of speech, I support freedom of assembly.”
Green councillor Leslie Tate from Hertfordshire, present at the demonstration, defended the protesters’ actions. “Palestine Action are not a violent organisation, and the proscription is wrong,” Tate said. “You do know, of course, that they were proscribed by Parliament with two other groups involved – all three at once, so that was a trick to make sure the Bill went through.”
The proscription follows a parliamentary vote on Wednesday where MPs overwhelmingly approved Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s order to ban Palestine Action alongside neo-Nazi groups Maniacs Murder Cult and Russian Imperial Movement. The vote passed 385 to 26, with the three groups bundled together in a single vote.
Cooper announced her decision to proscribe Palestine Action on June 23, following an incident at RAF Brize Norton where activists broke into the military base and sprayed red paint into the engines of two Airbus Voyager aircraft, causing what police estimated as £7 million in damage.
“The disgraceful attack on Brize Norton is the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action,” Cooper told Parliament. “The UK’s defence enterprise is vital to the nation’s national security and this government will not tolerate those who put that security at risk.”
United Nations human rights experts had urged the UK government to reconsider, warning that “acts of protest that damage property, but are not intended to kill or injure people, should not be treated as terrorism.” Five UN Special Rapporteurs expressed concern about the “unjustified labelling of a political protest movement as ‘terrorist’.
Amnesty International UK described the move as “unprecedented legal overreach,” with chief executive Sacha Deshmukh stating: “The UK has an overly broad definition of terrorism and proscribing a direct-action protest group like Palestine Action risks an unlawful interference with the fundamental rights of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
Palestine Action, founded in July 2020, describes itself as a movement “committed to ending global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime.” The group has targeted facilities linked to Israeli defence contractor Elbit Systems and other companies it claims are complicit in arming Israel.
The organisation challenged the proscription order in court but lost a Court of Appeal bid Friday night to block the ban, less than two hours before it came into force. Co-founder Huda Ammori called the government’s decision “an unhinged reaction” and “an abuse of power.”
One Palestine Action supporter at Saturday’s protest, who requested anonymity, expressed feeling “powerless” under the new restrictions. “I can’t be true to my life, to my feelings and beliefs. I’ve never felt like that before. It’s a frightening feeling. It’s chilling,” they said.
The long-time Labour Party member added they were “shocked” by the government’s actions, stating: “Yvette Cooper is doing this and she’s had heavy pressure from the Zionist regime, this Government, from the Board of Deputies. They’ve all been lobbying her to get heavy on Palestine Action.”
Under the new designation, it is now illegal to be a member of Palestine Action, invite support for the group, or even wear clothing that could “arouse reasonable suspicion” of membership. The latter offence carries a penalty of up to six months in prison or a fine.
Four Palestine Action members were charged Thursday under the Terrorism Act with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place and conspiracy to commit criminal damage in connection with the June 20 RAF Brize Norton incident. They are scheduled to appear at the Central Criminal Court on July 18.
The proscription has sparked widespread condemnation from civil liberties groups, with critics arguing it represents a dangerous precedent for criminalising protest movements. Over 3,000 lawyers, academics and public figures signed an open letter urging the government to halt the ban, warning against “seeking to criminalise direct action whilst themselves at risk of breaching international law.
Most of the police presence had dispersed by 2:10pm, approximately an hour after the demonstration began. The Metropolitan Police confirmed that all those arrested were detained on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000.
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