At least 150 people were arrested in London on Saturday for intentionally violating a new law banning support for the pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action, police said in a statement.
Supporters of Palestine Action have been staging a series of protests across the UK since July after parliament voted to ban the group and public speeches in its support. MPs banned the group as a terrorist organisation after its activists stormed an air base and damaged two aircraft.
Criticized law
Protesters say the new law disproportionately restricts freedom of expression. They gathered in the square outside parliament on Saturday, dozens of them carrying signs reading"I am against genocide. I support Palestine Action."
London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement on social media that its officers were still moving through the crowd and detaining more people with posters expressing support for the banned group.
Initiative of the Minister of the Interior
The ban on Palestine Action was initiated by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper after a June action by activists at Brize Norton Air Base in southern England, which was aimed at protesting British support for Israel in its war with the militant Hamas movement.
Supporters of the group challenged the ban in court, arguing that the British government went too far in designating Palestine Action as a terrorist organization. “Once the meaning of ‘terrorism’ is separated from violent attacks against civilians and expanded to include those who cause economic harm or inconvenience to the rich, powerful and criminals, then freedom of expression has no meaning and democracy is dead,” said Defend Our Juries, a group organizing demonstrations in support of Palestine Action.
Protests across the UK
The war in Gaza and concerns about immigration are fueling protests and counter-demonstrations in the United Kingdom, AP writes. On Sunday, several groups announced marches in central London for the safe release of Israeli hostages who were taken to Gaza by Palestinian militants in an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
