LONDON: A wave of protests in support of the banned group Palestine Action is underway in cities and towns across the UK ahead of a key court case next week.
Some 47 people were arrested Thursday in London as dozens gathered outside the justice ministry brandishing banners saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
If they are charged and sentenced under UK terrorism laws, they could risk up to six months in prison for holding such banners.
There were demonstrations in about 20 towns and cities on Tuesday with about 142 people being arrested out of 240 demonstrators, the protest organizers Defend Our Juries said.
More than 2,000 people have been arrested since Palestine Action was banned in July as a terrorist group, making it illegal to voice or show any support for them.
The government accuses the group of carrying out acts of vandalism on Israel-linked sites, including an airforce base.
The group was added to a UK blacklist which also includes groups such as the Palestinian militants Hamas and the Lebanese armed organization Hezbollah.
On Thursday, London police announced that 120 people had been charged for supporting the group after taking part in an August 9 protest in the British capital. So far 254 people have been charged, it added.
The group’s co-founder Huda Ammori is due to challenge the ban on Palestine Action during a three-day trial against the interior ministry starting on Tuesday, November 25.
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.
Free speech threat
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.
Elizabeth, a 54-year-old doctor, told AFP she was taking part in Thursday’s protest “to support Palestine and Palestine Action.”
“And also to protest against the government, which is turning out to be more of an authoritarian government than a democratic one,” she said.
“I’m afraid that there will come a time, very soon, where there won’t be any civil liberty.”
Six people who are on trial accused of breaking into an Israel-based defense firm’s UK site last year and causing more than £1 million of damage with sledgehammers appeared in a UK court on Monday.
A group of around two dozen protesters, holding banners and Palestinian flags, gathered outside the court on Monday, with their shouts of “Free Palestine” audible inside the courtroom ahead of the start of the trial.
According to Defend Our Juries, six jailed activists linked to Palestine Action have launched a hunger strike calling to be released on bail and demanding the group be de-proscribed.
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Arrests at protests supporting UK’s Palestine Action
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Arrests at protests supporting UK’s Palestine Action
- Some 47 people were arrested in London as dozens gathered outside the justice ministry brandishing banners saying ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action’
- Critics, including the UN and campaign groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have condemned the ban as legal overreach and a threat to free speech
Gunmen open fire at soccer field in central Mexico, killing 11 and wounding 12
:MEXICO CITY Gunmen opened fire at a soccer field in central Mexico on Sunday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 12, authorities said.
Salamanca Mayor Cesar Prieto said in a statement posted to social platforms that the gunmen arrived at the end of a soccer match.
Ten people died at the scene and one died later at a hospital. The mayor said a woman and a minor were among the wounded.
Prieto said the attack was part of a “crime wave” in the city and appealed to President Claudia Sheinbaum for help to control the violence.
The Guanajuato state prosecutor’s office said it was investigating and coordinating with federal authorities to reinforce security in the area.
Guanajuato had Mexico’s highest homicide total last year. A local gang, Santa Rosa de Lima, has been battling the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
“Unfortunately, there are criminal groups trying to subjugate authorities, something they are not going to achieve,” the mayor said.
Overall, Mexico’s government says the country’s 2025 murder rate was the lowest since 2016 at 17.5 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, although analysts cautioned that the numbers may not fully reflect the country’s violence.
Salamanca Mayor Cesar Prieto said in a statement posted to social platforms that the gunmen arrived at the end of a soccer match.
Ten people died at the scene and one died later at a hospital. The mayor said a woman and a minor were among the wounded.
Prieto said the attack was part of a “crime wave” in the city and appealed to President Claudia Sheinbaum for help to control the violence.
The Guanajuato state prosecutor’s office said it was investigating and coordinating with federal authorities to reinforce security in the area.
Guanajuato had Mexico’s highest homicide total last year. A local gang, Santa Rosa de Lima, has been battling the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
“Unfortunately, there are criminal groups trying to subjugate authorities, something they are not going to achieve,” the mayor said.
Overall, Mexico’s government says the country’s 2025 murder rate was the lowest since 2016 at 17.5 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, although analysts cautioned that the numbers may not fully reflect the country’s violence.
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