Around 29 people have been arrested on suspicion of terror offences at a protest in support of proscribed terror organisation Palestine Action in Parliament Square.
A mass of Metropolitan Police circled around dozens of protesters standing quietly beneath the statue of Mahatma Ghandi, with placards that said: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”.
Occasional chants of “free Palestine” broke out from the surrounding onlookers, and some criticised the police attending. The protest started at about 1.10pm and officers were seen taking people away shortly after 1.30pm.
Palestine Action lost a late-night Court of Appeal challenge on Friday which sought to stop the protest group being banned, less than two hours before the new legislation came into force at midnight.
The designation as a terror group means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The Met posted on X, formerly Twitter: “A total of 29 arrests were made during this afternoon’s protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square. They remain in custody.”
The force added: “Palestine Action is a proscribed group and officers will act where criminal offences are committed.”
An elderly woman in a dog collar, who was sat in a camp chair with one of the placards at her feet, appeared to be taken away by officers. Another person was seen lying on the floor in handcuffs as police gathered over her.
Police arresting protesters in Parliament Square were met with cries of “Met Police you are puppets of the Zionist state” and “leave them alone”.
Another supporter, not directly involved in the Palestine Action protest, shouted: “Who do you protect? Who do you serve?”
One cried: “British police off our streets”
There were further chants of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.
A woman seen lying on the floor in handcuffs was carried away in the air by officers and put in a police van.
While suspended and flanked by a large group of police, she said calmly: “Free Palestine, stop the genocide, I oppose genocide, I support the rights of the Palestinian people, I support freedom of speech, I support freedom of assembly”.
A mass of people crowded around to film the scene.
Officers placed her in the vehicle parked on the road behind the square before returning to the Mahatma Ghandi statue, where almost no protesters remained.
Chants of “shame” broke out, directed at the police, and officers moved behind the Ghandi statue.
Most of the police dispersed at around 2.10pm.
Leslie Tate, 76, a Green councillor from Hertfordshire attending the protest, said: “Palestine Action are not a violent organisation, and the proscription is wrong.
“You do know, of course, that they were prescribed by Parliament with two other groups involved – all three at once so that was a trick to make sure the Bill went through.
“The evidence from their actions that they’ve taken from the start of Palestine Action is that they all have been non-violent.
“This protest is necessary to defend our democracy, and this is the creeping edge of totalitarianism, frankly.
“We thought they (the police) would probably take pictures of people.
“It’s the obvious thing to do, to photograph them, then they have their identity, rather than make arrests.”
A Home Office spokesman said on Saturday: “We welcome the Court’s decision and Palestine Action are now a proscribed group.
“The Government will always take the strongest possible action to protect our national security and our priority remains maintaining the safety and security of our citizens.”
The move to ban the organisation was announced 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 around £7 million of damage.
In a letter to the Home Secretary, protesters said: “We do not wish to go to prison or to be branded with a terrorism conviction. But we refuse to be cowed into silence by your order.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action on June 23, stating that the vandalism of the two planes was “disgraceful” and that the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage”.
MPs in the Commons voted 385 to 26, majority 359, in favour of proscribing the group on Wednesday, before the House of Lords backed the move without a vote on Thursday.
Four people – Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22 – have all been charged in connection with the incident at Brize Norton.
They appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday after being charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage, under the Criminal Law Act 1977.
