By Euronews with AP
Published on
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British police have arrested 466 people at a protest in central London in support of a recently banned pro-Palestinian group on Saturday.
The Metropolitan police reported on their X account that an additional eight people were arrested for other offences including five for assaults on officers.
Ahead of the protest Civil Rights Group Amnesty International released a statement urging the Met police not to make arrests on peaceful protesters.
In early July, Parliament passed a law banning Palestine Action and making it a criminal offence to publicly support the group. The move followed an incident in June when activists broke into Royal Air Force base and damaged two tanker planes to protest against Britain’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Supporters of Palestine Action say the ban unlawfully limits free speech. They have held protests across the UK over the past month.
On Saturday, more than 500 people gathered in Parliament Square, many holding signs reading “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” Police had said on their X account that they were “preparing for a busy three days of protests and events”.
Protest organisers Defend Our Juries claimed in a statement that only a small number of protesters were detained and that most were quickly released. They called the arrests a “major embarrassment to (the government), further undermining the credibility of this widely ridiculed law, brought in to punish those exposing the government’s own crimes.”
The Metropolitan Police rejected this, insisting that anyone openly showing support for Palestine Action was either arrested or in the process of being arrested. Officers also noted that many in the square were passers-by, media or people not carrying placards.
Police said the protest was unusual because many participants wanted to be arrested to put pressure on the justice system.
Palestine Action has previously targeted Israeli defence companies and other sites in the UK linked to the Israeli military. The government says its ban follows the RAF base incident on 20 June, when activists sprayed red paint into the planes’ engines and damaged them with crowbars in protest of British military support for the Israel-Hamas war.
Supporters are challenging the decision in court, arguing the government has gone too far treating Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
Defend Our Juries said on its website, “Once the meaning of ‘terrorism’ is separated from campaigns of violence against a civilian population, and extended to include those causing economic damage or embarrassment to the rich, the powerful and the criminal, then the right to freedom of expression has no meaning and democracy is dead,”.
The arrests took place during a weekend of protests in London linked to the war in Gaza and immigration.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched to Downing Street on Saturday, accusing the government of not doing enough to stop the war. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to recognise a Palestinian state later this year.
On Sunday, other groups plan to march through central London calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Police are also preparing for protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers, which have seen recent clashes between anti-immigration activists and counterprotesters.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said the scale of the events would “put pressure” on police resources.
