Activists Vow to Oppose New Palestine Action Arrests ‘in Great Numbers’

Activists opposing the ban on Palestine Action have vowed to turn out in “great numbers” next month after the Metropolitan police resumed its policy of arresting peaceful protesters under anti-terrorism legislation.  

Eighteen people were arrested on Saturday for holding signs that read “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action” during a protest outside New Scotland Yard in London.

The demonstration came days after the force announced that those who expressed support for the group would once again face arrest. Campaign group Defend Our Juries said it would hold a larger protest against the ban on 11 April.  

“We will oppose this in great numbers,” the group said. “The ban on Palestine Action is unlawful, according to the High Court. It must be defied in order to be dropped. Everyone counts.”

The High Court ruled in February that the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation is unlawful, but the ban remains in place while the government appeals the decision.

The Met said after the ruling that it would stop making arrests, but reversed that decision on 26 March, saying the appeals process was likely to take months. “We must enforce the law as it is at the time, not as it might be at a future date,” deputy assistant commissioner James Harman said.

Defend Our Juries responded that it “would like to remind the Met that the ban on Palestine Action is currently ruled unlawful. Right now.”

​On Saturday it shared footage of a protester in handcuffs declaring that it was “an offence to speak out against a genocidal state that we are aiding and abetting – and when people speak out against it they get labelled as terrorists”.

​“That’s the British state,” the protester said. “That’s the situation we’re in.”

Palestine Action has targeted multiple weapons factories that supply arms to Israel for its genocide in Gaza. It was banned in July by then-home secretary Yvette Cooper, making it a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison to express support for the group.

More than 2,700 people – many of them elderly or disabled – have since been arrested for defying the ban.