The Metropolitan Police made a record 532 arrests at a protest in support of Palestine Action — despite the group being proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
Organisers Defend Our Juries said up to 700 people, including Left-wing activists and Muslim community leaders, gathered in Westminster on Saturday afternoon in defiance of the ban.
It came after the first three people to be charged with supporting Palestine Action in England and Wales were named.
Arrest update: We’ve now arrested 150 people in Parliament Square.
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) August 9, 2025
While many of those remaining in the Square are media and onlookers, there are still people holding placards supporting Palestine Action.
Officers are steadily working through the crowd making further arrests. pic.twitter.com/k5xDIWKQQY
Jeremy Shippam, 71, of West Sussex, Judit Murray, also 71, of Surrey, and Fiona Maclean, 53, of Hackney in east London, will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on September 16.
Today, a crowd sat on the grass inside Parliament Square holding placards which read “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”, with the vast majority remaining silent.
Several others erected signs that read “Palestine Action terrorises Britain while Hamas hides in hospitals, schools and mosques”.
Prior to the protest on Parliament Square, the group claimed Scotland Yard were preparing for the "largest mass arrest in their history".
Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, had urged members of the public to stay away from events supporting proscribed organisations.
At least 522 people were arrested for "displaying placards expressing support for Palestine Action”. The average age of those arrested was 54. The number of people transported to custody was 212.
There were a further ten arrests: six for assaults on officers, one for obstructing a constable in the execution of duty, two for breaching public order conditions, and one for a racially aggravated public order offence.
It is understood that 30 people arrested at the protest had been arrested at previous recent protests in support of Palestine Action in London.
The highest number of arrests previously made by the Met at the same protest is thought to be 339 at the poll tax riots in 1990.
Among those arrested included quakers, a blind wheelchair user and former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg.
BREAKING: police have arrested Moazzam Begg for opposing the Palestine Action.
— Socialist Worker (@socialistworker) August 9, 2025
A Labour government locked him up in Guantanamo Bay.
Now another Labour government wants to lock him up for saying “protest is not terrorism”.
Eternal shame on the British state pic.twitter.com/xpnoSUrmLK
As the gathering drew to a close at 4pm, police tightened their cordon around the remaining demonstrators, with one elderly man volunteering to be arrested next because of the wait.
Onlookers applauded the protesters and shouted “shame on you” and “pigs” at officers making arrests.
Another march organised by the Palestine Coalition set off from Russell Square via Aldwych and the Strand and assembled on Whitehall.
Meanwhile, activists from Greenpeace rebranded bus stops across the capital with posters reading: “Protesting genocide is not terrorism.”
A spokesman for Defend Our Juries said the protest was an "embarrassment" for Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, because the police were only able to detain “a fraction” of those breaking the law.
However, the Met denied claims made by the organisers, saying: “After arrest, they were taken to prisoner processing points in the Westminster area.
“Those whose details could be confirmed were bailed, with conditions not to attend any further protest in support of Palestine Action.
Activists from @greenpeaceuk have rebranded bus stops across London with posters reading “Protesting genocide is not terrorism.”
— Novara Media (@novaramedia) August 9, 2025
More than 500 people have pledged to hold “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” signs today in central London, as part of a campaign to end… pic.twitter.com/l8MxJDd4Jo
“Those whose details were refused or could not be verified were taken to custody suites across London.” The number of people transported to custody was 212.
The Met has been forced to draw officers in from neighbouring constabularies to help form a “significant policing presence” in the city this weekend.
On Sunday, there will be a “National March for the Hostages” in central London organised by the pro-Israeli collective Stop the Hate.
This is a major embarrassment to Yvette Cooper
In July, MPs voted to outlaw Palestine Action, meaning support for the group is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Palestine Action’s website was also been blocked in the UK after a last-minute legal challenge to suspend the group’s proscription failed.
It comes after two Palestine Action activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and sprayed two military planes with red paint.
The Home Office has defended the proscription, saying the move is “not about Palestine” and does not affect the right to protest on Palestinian rights amid Israel’s war against Hamas.
A spokesman said: “It only applies to the specific and narrow organisation whose activities do not reflect or represent the thousands of people across the country who continue to exercise their fundamental rights to protest on different issues.
“The decision to proscribe was based on strong security advice and the unanimous recommendation by the expert cross-government proscription review group.
“This followed serious attacks the group has committed, involving violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage.”
