POLICE have made 46 arrests after having to carry people away from a protest against Palestine Action being designated a proscribed terror group.
Protesters gathered for the second week in a row in central London after police reiterated that showing support for the group was a criminal offence.
Other demonstrations were also planned across the UK on Saturday, including in Manchester, Cardiff, and Derry. According to campaign group Defend Our Juries, a total of 86 arrests were made at all of the demonstrations together.
The group said they had warned the UK Government of their planned protests in advance.
They said: “We will not be deterred from opposing genocide, nor from defending those who refuse to be bystanders. The British public is against you and your genocide. They are against the corruption of democracy and the rule of law by the Israeli government, Elbit Systems, and the arms industry.”
Two groups of protesters gathered underneath both the Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela statues in Parliament Square for the demonstration shortly after 1pm.
Some demonstrators could be seen lying on top of each other on the floor as police searched their bags and took their ID cards and handmade signs.
Officers could then be seen carrying away a number of protesters who were lying down, lifting them off the ground and into waiting police vans parked around the square.
Other standing protesters were also led away from the statues and placed into the vans.
The last of the protesters was lifted from the Nelson Mandela statue shortly after 2.30pm.
A Metropolitan Police officer at the scene told the PA news agency that 46 people had been arrested at the protest.
The offences mainly related to Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, the officer said.
In a post shared on social media, Defend Our Juries said the protesters had been arrested “for holding cardboard signs” and that further arrests had been made at the Manchester demonstration.
Scotland Yard said its stance remains that officers will act where criminal offences, including support of proscribed groups or organisations, are committed.
The force added that this includes “chanting, wearing clothing or displaying articles such as flags, signs or logos”.
Police arrested 29 people at a similar protest in Parliament Square last weekend.
The terror group designation means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The move to ban the organisation came after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action, which police said caused about £7 million worth of damage.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action, saying that the vandalism of the planes was “disgraceful” and the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage”.
In Scotland, police charged a 55-year-old on Friday after he was allegedly seen wearing a T-shirt which was interpreted as supporting the group.
