London police arrested 466 protesters on Saturday after they openly defied a newly enacted anti-terror law by displaying signs supporting a recently banned pro-Palestinian group.
Hundreds gathered in Parliament Square holding placards reading, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” Organizers described the protest as a stand for free speech.
Under legislation passed in early July, Palestine Action is classified as a terrorist organization. The law makes it a criminal offense to publicly express support for the group, with penalties of up to 14 years in prison.
The British Parliament passed the measure after Palestine Action activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire on June 20, vandalizing two tanker aircraft in protest of the U.K.’s support for Israel and its war in Gaza.
“Within this crowd, a significant number of people are displaying placards expressing support for Palestine Action, which is a proscribed group,” the Metropolitan Police Service posted on X. “Officers have moved in and are making arrests.”
Police later confirmed 365 of the arrests were for “supporting a proscribed organization.”
Saturday’s demonstration was organized by the activist network Defend Our Juries, which had urged participants to carry pro-Palestine Action signs as an act of civil disobedience.
“When the meaning of ‘terrorism’ is stretched beyond campaigns of violence against civilians to include causing economic damage or embarrassment to the powerful, freedom of expression becomes meaningless, and democracy is dead,” the group wrote on its website.
Rights group Amnesty International called the arrests “deeply concerning” and criticized the law as “excessively broad, vaguely worded, and a threat to freedom of expression.”
What is Palestine Action?
Founded in 2020 by activist Huda Ammori, Palestine Action targets what it calls “the infrastructure that sustains the Israeli occupation.” The group has repeatedly gone after Elbit Systems, an Israel-based defense contractor that signed a $275 million contract with the Israeli government earlier this year.
Last year, activists staged break-ins at Elbit sites in Bristol and Kent, causing an estimated £1 million ($1.33 million) in damages.
On July 5, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper officially proscribed the group under the Terrorism Act 2000, alongside two white-supremacist organizations — the Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement.
The U.K. government said Palestine Action “has orchestrated a nationwide campaign of direct criminal action” and “prepares for, promotes, and encourages terrorism.”
Gaza War Context
The ban comes amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, triggered by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack that killed over 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in around 250 hostages being taken.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. The ministry’s figures — which do not distinguish between civilians and combatants — are the primary casualty data cited by humanitarian agencies, journalists, and international bodies, though they cannot be independently verified.
A U.N.-backed food security body recently warned of a “worst case famine scenario” unfolding in Gaza, reporting widespread starvation and malnutrition. At least 197 people have reportedly died from hunger-related causes.
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