POLICE arrested 66 people outside the Labour Party conference for supporting unlawful terror organisation Palestine Action.
Two were later released, but the other 64 who were arrested on suspicion of a terrorism offence were then taken into custody, Merseyside Police said on Monday.
All those arrested, aged between 21 and 83 years, have been released on bail following the arrests made at a demonstration near the Labour Party conference in Liverpool city centre on Sunday afternoon.
“Some of the people in attendance displayed material in support of Palestine Action, who are a proscribed terrorism organisation,” Merseyside Police said in a statement.
About 100 people had gathered silently, holding signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”, protest group Defend Our Juries said.
Palestine Action was proscribed as a terror organisation in July after the group claimed responsibility for an action in which two Voyager planes were damaged at RAF Brize Norton the previous month.
A spokesman for Defend Our Juries said: “Instead of shutting down protest, it’s time the Labour Party took the responsibility to prevent genocide seriously and impose blanket sanctions on Israel including stopping the flow of arms from factories in this country.”
During the protest, Keith Hackett, 71, said: “I’m risking arrest today under terrorism legislation because, as a former Labour councillor in Liverpool, I am deeply ashamed of how Labour are acting.
“They need to recognise that direct action has been a fundamental part of the gains that have been in the labour movement.”
Tayo Aluko, 63, an actor, writer and singer from Liverpool, said: “This Government, like all authoritarian regimes in modern times, wants to plant fear in the citizens so that it can continue to let their friends and paymasters get away with genocide.”
Israel denies a genocide is taking place in Gaza.
However, a UN Commission found that four of the five requirements for an offensive to be considered genocide have been met.
Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK’s director of communications and campaigns, said: “These arrests should not be happening.
"It’s clearly both ridiculous and seriously disproportionate for police to be targeting and arresting people for sitting down, quietly holding a sign.”
