Police in London on Saturday arrested 466 people for supporting Palestine Action at the latest and largest protest backing the group since the British government banned it last month under anti-terror laws.
The Metropolitan Police said it had made the arrests, thought to be one of the highest numbers ever at a single protest in the UK capital, for “supporting a proscribed organization.”
It also arrested eight people for other offences including five for alleged assaults on officers, although none were seriously injured, it added.
Photo: AFP
The British government outlawed Palestine Action early last month, days after it took responsibility for a break-in at a British air force base in southern England that caused an estimated ￡7 million (US$9.4 million) of damage to two aircraft.
The group said its activists were responding to Britain’s indirect military support for Israel amid the war in Gaza.
The British Home Office reiterated ahead of Saturday’s protests that Palestine Action was also suspected of other “serious attacks” that involved “violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage.”
However, critics, including the UN and groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have condemned the move as legal overreach and a threat to free speech.
A group called Defend Our Juries, which organized Saturday’s protests and previous demonstrations against the ban, said “unprecedented numbers” had risked “arrest and possible imprisonment” to “defend this country’s ancient liberties.”
“We will keep going. Our numbers are already growing for the next wave of action in September,” it added.
Attendees began massing near parliament at lunchtime bearing signs saying: “Oppose genocide, support Palestine Action” and other slogans, and waving Palestinian flags.
Psychotherapist Craig Bell, 39, was among those holding a placard. For him, the ban was “absolutely ridiculous.”
“When you compare Palestine Action with an actual terrorist group who are killing civilians and taking lives, it’s just a joke that they’re being prescribed a terrorist group,” he said.
As police moved in on the demonstrators, who nearly all appeared to offer no resistance, attendees applauded those being arrested and shouted “shame on you” at officers.
“Let them arrest us all,” said Richard Bull, 42, a wheelchair-user in attendance. “This government has gone too far. I have nothing to feel ashamed of.”
However, British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper insisted late Saturday Palestine Action had been outlawed “based on strong security advice” and following “an assessment from the Joint Terrorism Assessment Centre that the group prepares for terrorism.”
“Many people may not yet know the reality of this organization,” she said, adding it “is not non-violent.”
“The right to protest is one we protect fiercely, but this is very different from displaying support for this one specific and narrow, proscribed organization,” she said.
Police forces across the UK have made scores of similar arrests since the government outlawed Palestine Action on July 5, making being a member or supporting the group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Police announced this week that the first three people had been charged in the English and Welsh criminal justice system with supporting Palestine Action following their arrests at a July 5 demo.
Seven people have so far been charged in Scotland, which has a separate legal system.
Amnesty International UK chief executive Sacha Deshmukh wrote to Met Commissioner Mark Rowley this week urging restraint be exercised when policing people holding placards expressing support for Palestine Action.
“The arrest of otherwise peaceful protesters is a violation of the UK’s international obligations to protect the rights of freedom of expression and assembly,” Amnesty said Saturday on X.
A UK court challenge against the decision to proscribe Palestine Action would be heard in November.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
MILITARY’S MAN: Myint Swe was diagnosed with neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy disease, and had authorized another to perform his duties Myint Swe, who became Myanmar’s acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago, died yesterday, the military said. He was 74. He died at a military hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, in the morning, Myanmar’s military information office said in a statement. Myint Swe’s death came more than a year after he stopped carrying out his presidential duties after he was publicly reported to be ailing. His funeral is to be held at the state level, but the date had not been disclosed, a separate statement from the
RSS