LONDON: Police in London on Saturday arrested nearly 100 pro-Palestinian protesters at a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action.
Officers carried away activists to cheers and clapping from other demonstrators who gathered for the sit-down demonstration in the capital’s Trafalgar Square.
The protesters held placards in support of the banned group Palestine Action, making them liable for arrest.
Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organization last July, making it a criminal offense to belong to or support the group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The High Court in London in mid-February upheld a challenge to the ban, saying it had interfered with the right to freedom of speech.
London’s Metropolitan Police paused arrests in the wake of the High Court ruling before announcing in late March that it would resume them.
The government has been granted leave to appeal the decision.
“It’s really important to continue to show up,” said Freya, 28, manager of a London environmental organization, one of those sitting toward the front of the crowd of protesters.
“It’s important that we all continue to oppose genocide... The government might flip-flop in their legal argument but the morals of these people (here) do not change,” she added.
Posting on X, London’s Metropolitan Police said by early evening they had made 92 arrests of people aged between 27 and 82 with the protesters still in place.
- ‘Misguided crackdown’ -
Since the ban on Palestine Action was imposed there have been nearly 3,000 arrests, mainly for carrying placards defending it. Hundreds of people are facing charges.
Another protester, Denis MacDermot, 73, from Edinburgh, said he had been arrested before and had no hesitation about turning out again.
“I’m a supporter of these great people,” he said waving toward other protesters, adding that if the court process was definitive “there would be no need for all this.”
Protest organizers Defend Our Juries said around 500 people had taken part in Saturday’s demonstration, protesting “the UK Government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the misguided crackdown on peaceful protest at home.”
Police were “choosing to make arrests despite the government’s ban on the group being ruled unlawful by the High Court, and leading lawyers warning that any arrests would be unlawful,” it added in a statement.
The ban, which put Palestine Action on a blacklist that also includes Palestinian militants Hamas and the Lebanese Iran-backed group Hezbollah, has sparked a severe backlash.
A judge has put on hold all trials of people charged with supporting Palestine Action, scheduling a blanket review of cases for July 30.
Set up in 2020, Palestine Action’s stated goal on its now-blocked website is to end “global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime.”
It has mainly targeted weapons factories, especially those belonging to the Israeli defense group Elbit Systems.
