IN A MAJOR police state move, 29 demonstrators were arrested in London at a protest in support of Palestine Action on Saturday, the day that the group was declared illegal by the Labour government.
The Metropolitan Police said that those arrested were being held under the Terrorism Act 2000 and were taken into custody.
The protesters were arrested for holding placards reading: ‘I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.’
As of Saturday, the group is proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000, after lawyers acting on its behalf failed with a court bid to block the ban on Friday.
The designation means being a member of, or showing support for Palestine Action, is a criminal offence and could lead to up to 14 years in prison.
In an earlier statement, the Met said: ‘Officers are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square.
‘The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence.’
Protesters holding home-made, cardboard placards gathered near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square on Saturday.
Police surrounded the group and detained people, with one woman seen being taken away in handcuffs by officers.
The protest group Defend Our Juries wrote to Met Police commissioner Mark Rowley on Friday to inform the force that a demonstration where placards expressing support of Palestine Action would be displayed was to go ahead on Saturday.
In a statement released after the arrests, the group said: ‘It’s a relief to know that Counter Terrorism police have nothing better to do.’
Raza Husain KC, barrister for Palestine Action told the court last Friday that banning the group would be ‘ill-considered’ and an ‘authoritarian abuse’ of power.
In a letter addressed to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, protesters said that they ‘refuse to be cowed into silence by your order’.
Reacting to the ban, a spokesperson for Palestine Action said: ‘While London is rushing through Parliament absurd legislation to proscribe Palestine Action, the real terrorism is being committed in Gaza.’
It said that it ‘affirms that direct action is necessary in the face of Israel’s ongoing crimes against humanity of genocide, apartheid and occupation, and to end British facilitation of those crimes.’
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard accused the UK government of abusing local anti-terrorism laws.
She said: ‘The UK government seems more bent on abusing terrorism laws to restrict protests rather than addressing the root cause behind these actions – live-streamed genocide in Gaza.’