London police arrested at least 150 people who gathered in support of Palestine Action, a radical anti-Israel group that was officially banned by the government as a terrorist organisation last month.
Around a thousand people descended on Parliament Square in a demonstration organised by the left-wing Defend Our Juries NGO in support of Palestine Action, a group which was proscribed as a terror group by the Labour government following a string of “direct action” incidents targeting businesses supposedly supporting Israel’s military effort to destroy the Islamist Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
The decision to ban the group came after members of Palestine Action broke into a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire and spray-painted two British military aircraft, reportedly causing £25 million in damage due to the paint getting inside one of the plane’s engines.
As a result of the ban, those found to be either a member or supporting Palestine Action face up to 14 years in prison, as is the case with other proscribed terror groups like Hamas, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda.
In a statement on social media, the Metropolitan Police said of the protest on Sunday: “We’ve now arrested 150 people in Parliament Square. While many of those remaining in the Square are media and onlookers, there are still people holding placards supporting Palestine Action.
“Officers are steadily working through the crowd making further arrests.”
According to the PA News agency, hundreds have been arrested at demonstrations defying the ban, and the first three people were charged with supporting Palestine Action this week.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Secretary has been clear that the proscription of Palestine Action is not about Palestine, nor does it affect the freedom to protest on Palestinian rights.
“It only applies to the specific and narrow organisation whose activities do not reflect or represent the thousands of people across the country who continue to exercise their fundamental rights to protest on different issues.
“Freedom to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and we protect it fiercely.
“The decision to proscribe was based on strong security advice and the unanimous recommendation by the expert cross-government proscription review group.
“This followed serious attacks the group has committed, involving violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage.”
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