More than 425 people were arrested in central London on Saturday during the largest demonstration yet against the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
Police said the arrests took place at a protest in Parliament Square involving roughly 1,500 people, many of whom held placards reading “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” According to the Metropolitan Police, offences included assault and supporting a banned group. Officers reported being “punched, kicked, spat on and having objects thrown at them,” with Deputy Assistant Commissioner Claire Smart calling the abuse “intolerable.”
Organisers from Defend Our Juries disputed police accounts, accusing officers of assaulting elderly demonstrators and violently shoving protesters to the ground. They said the scale of arrests showed the ban was unenforceable and a waste of resources.
The demonstration, which began at 1 p.m., remained largely peaceful, though scuffles broke out on the fringes. Video showed police using batons to disperse crowds, while protesters chanted “shame on you.” Among those detained were two elderly people using mobility scooters and a decorated RAF veteran wearing his medals.
Protesters had been instructed to withhold their personal details to force police to transport and process them individually, a tactic designed to overwhelm custody resources. Some demonstrators, including 80-year-old Judith Gradwell, said they were unafraid of being arrested, calling the ban “ridiculous.”
Civil liberties groups condemned the crackdown. Amnesty International said treating peaceful protesters as terrorists was “disproportionate to the point of absurdity” and risked undermining freedom of expression.
The protest was the latest in a series of mass actions sparked by the Home Office’s proscription of Palestine Action under terrorism laws. More than 500 people were arrested at a similar demonstration last month.
While the government argues the designation is necessary for national security, critics say it represents the most severe attack on civil liberties in decades. For many demonstrators, the arrests underscored their belief that the ban is politically motivated and designed to silence dissent against the government’s stance on Gaza.
