London (AFP) – A total of 890 people were arrested in London during a protest this weekend in support of the banned group Palestine Action, the capital's Metropolitan Police said Sunday. But supporters say the ban is an unwarranted curb on free speech and the right to protest.
The force said 857 people had been arrested under anti-terror laws for supporting a proscribed group during Saturday's demonstration, with an additional 33 arrested for other offences including assaults on police officers.
"We have a duty to enforce the law without fear or favour. If you advertise that you are intending to commit a crime, we have no option but to respond accordingly," deputy assistant commissioner Claire Smart said in a statement.
The government in July proscribed Palestine Action under the UK's Terrorism Act of 2000 following several acts of vandalism, including against two planes at a Royal Air Force base, which caused an estimated £7 million (€8 million) in damage.
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Critics, including the United Nations, have condemned the ban as legal overreach and a threat to free speech, but ministers insist that people are still able to attend pro-Palestinian marches.
"The contrast between this demonstration and the other protests we policed yesterday, including the Palestine Coalition march attended by around 20,000 people, was stark," added Smart.
"You can express your support for a cause without committing an offence under the Terrorism Act or descending into violence and disorder, and many thousands of people do that in London every week."
Serious concerns
Palestine Action has won approval from the High Court to challenge the ban, a ruling the government is seeking to overturn. The case is ongoing, with a hearing scheduled for 25 September.
The UN human rights chief has criticised the British government’s stance, saying the new law "misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism".
The decision to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist group "raises serious concerns that counterterrorism laws are being applied to conduct that is not terrorist in nature, and risks hindering the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms across the UK", Volker Türk warned.
Police officers assaulted
An estimated 1,500 took part in the Palestine Action protest outside parliament, with some holding placards that read: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."
Of the 33 people arrested for non-terror offences, 17 were for "intolerable" assaults on police officers, the force said.
The organisers of the protest, the campaign group Defend Our Juries (DOJ), said the "Lift the Ban" rally had been "the picture of peaceful protest".
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Many of those detained for showing support for Palestine Action appeared to be older people.
Most face six months in prison if convicted but organisers of the rallies could be sentenced to up to 14 years if found guilty.
Five members of Defend our Juries were arrested earlier this week ahead of the protest.
Ex-interior minister Yvette Cooper, who oversaw the ban, has accused Palestine Action of orchestrating "aggressive and intimidatory attacks against businesses, institutions and the public".
Cooper has also suggested that some supporters of Palestine Action "don't know the full nature of this organisation, because of court restrictions on reporting while serious prosecutions are under way".
The ban does seem to have increased support for what was previously a little-known organisation.
"It's so important for me that groups that are called terrorist groups must be terrorist groups," said 60-year-old greengrocer Philip Hughes, holding a placard that read, "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action".
"You cannot go and use terrorism laws to go and stop an organisation who object to something that you have done," he told AFP.
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The rallies came as Israel launched new strikes on Gaza, with the stated aim of seizing Gaza City to defeat the militant group Hamas.
Several countries, including France and Belgium, have pledged to recognise a Palestinian state during the UN General Assembly later this month.
Britain said it would recognise a Palestinian state if Israel failed to agree to a truce in the Gaza war, triggered by Palestinian group Hamas's October 2023 attack.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,368 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.
(with AFP)
