British Police Arrest Hundreds of Pro-Palestinian Protesters Who Defied Anti-Terror Law

Police in London arrested at least 365 protesters on Saturday who defied an anti-terror law by holding placards expressing support for a recently banned pro-Palestinian group. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the British Parliament to hold signs reading “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” in what they said was a protest for freedom of expression.  By doing so, the protesters violated a law passed by the British Parliament in early July that classified Palestine Action as a terror organization and made it illegal for anyone to publicly show support for it. The legislation was passed in response to an incident in which activists from the group broke into a Royal Air Force base and vandalized two tanker aircraft in protest against the United Kingdom’s support for Israel, and against Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. “Within this crowd a significant number of people are displaying placards expressing support for Palestine Action, which is a proscribed group,” the Metropolitan Police Service said on X. “Officers have moved in and are making arrests.” Police later said they had arrested 365 people for “supporting a proscribed organization.” Read more: Why U.K. Police Plan to Arrest Anyone Showing Support for Palestine Action at Upcoming Protest Membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act 2000. Saturday’s demonstration was organized by a group called Defend Our Juries, which called for people to attend the protest with signs expressing support for Palestine Action in a demonstration of civil disobedience.  “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 group said on its website. Rights group Amnesty International described the arrests as “deeply concerning.” It has previously criticized the law as “excessively broad and vaguely worded and a threat to freedom of expression.” What is Palestine Action? Palestine Action was established in 2020 and claims to take “aim at the infrastructure that sustains the Israeli occupation,” according to co-founder Huda Ammori. The group has frequently targeted Elbit Systems, an Israel-based defense contractor that earlier this year signed a contract with the Israeli government worth $275 million. Palestine Action staged break-ins at Elbit sites across the U.K. last year in the city of Bristol, and at a factory in the county of Kent, where around £1 million ($1.33 million) worth of property was reportedly destroyed. The group was proscribed as a terrorist group under the 2000 Terrorism Act by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on July 5, after members of the group broke into a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire on June 20, spray painting two Voyager jets and damaging them with crowbars. The British Government said that the group “has orchestrated a nationwide campaign of direct criminal action against businesses and institutions” and that it “prepares for, promotes, and encourages terrorism.” “Proscription will enable law enforcement to effectively disrupt Palestine Action,” the government order read, meaning that support for the group is now deemed a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Palestine Action was proscribed alongside two groups described as “white-supremacist” movements, the Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement. The Israel-Hamas war was triggered after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. In the absence of independent monitoring on the ground, the ministry is the primary source for casualty data relied upon by humanitarian groups, journalists, and international bodies. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants and cannot be independently verified by TIME. The humanitarian toll in Gaza continues to rise, after a U.N.-backed food security body warned last week that the “worst case famine scenario” is unfolding. “Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,” the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported on July 29.  At least 197 people have now died from mass hunger, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. — Additional reporting by Callum Sutherland