UK’s Met police says 55 people have been arrested in Parliament Square for displaying placards in support of the group.
Protests are taking place across the United Kingdom calling for the ban on Palestine Action to be reversed, amid police warnings that those showing support for the proscribed activist group face arrest.
Demonstrations have been taking place on Saturday in Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Truro and London as part of a campaign coordinated by Defend Our Juries, which has already seen dozens arrested.
London’s Metropolitan police said 55 people have been arrested Saturday in Parliament Square for displaying placards in support of the group.
The Met police said 70 people were arrested at similar demonstrations in Parliament Square over the past two weekends, while Defend Our Juries said a total of 120 had so far been arrested across the UK.
It comes ahead of a High Court hearing on Monday in which the cofounder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, will ask for the green light to challenge the home secretary’s decision to ban the group under “anti-terror” laws.
The ban means that membership of, or support for, the direct action group is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, under the Terrorism Act 2000, putting the group on a par with armed groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
Authorities have beefed up police presence in Westminster in the wake of the rallies.
A counterprotest by the pro-Israeli Stop the Hate group will also take place in London on Saturday.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said those expressing support for Palestine Action “will likely be committing an offence and will very likely be arrested”.
Five people appeared in court on Saturday over a Palestine Action protest at an Israeli-linked defence firm’s site.
Members of the organisation, allegedly armed with sledgehammers and whips, are accused of breaking into the Elbit Systems site near Patchway, Bristol, in the early hours of August 6, 2024, “counter-terrorism” police said.
More than 2 million pounds of damage ($2.68 million) was caused, and police officers and a security guard were assaulted, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
Prosecutors claim the alleged offences had a “terrorist connection”. The five involved were charged with aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder.
Palestine Action describes itself as “a pro-Palestinian organisation which disrupts the arms industry in the United Kingdom with direct action”.
Since its founding in July 2020, it has carried out hundreds of protests across the UK aimed at disrupting the operations of companies they accuse of profiting from Israeli military operations, with a particular focus on the Israeli arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems.
The group’s tactics typically involve breaking into facilities, chaining themselves to machinery, daubing buildings with red paint and destroying equipment.
The UK has seen hundreds of thousands of people peacefully protest on a near-weekly basis, calling for an end to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza in the last 22 months.