A girl is led away by law enforcement officials as supporters of Palestine Motion participate in a mass motion in Parliament Sq., organised by Defend Our Juries as a part of the Raise the Ban marketing campaign, to finish the proscription of Palestine Motion, in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau/PA through AP)
LONDON: British police stated they arrested 365 individuals in central London on Saturday as supporters of a lately banned pro-Palestinian group deliberately flouted the legislation as a part of their effort to power the federal government to rethink the ban. Parliament in early July handed a legislation banning Palestine Motion and making it against the law to publicly help the group. That got here after activists broke right into a Royal Air Power base and vandalized two tanker planes to protest towards Britain’s help for Israel’s offensive towards Hamas within the Gaza Strip. Backers of the group, who’ve held a collection of protests across the U.Ok. over the previous month, argue that the legislation illegally restricts freedom of expression. Daring police to arrest them Greater than 500 protesters crammed the sq. exterior the Homes of Parliament on Saturday, many daring police to arrest them by displaying indicators studying “I oppose genocide. I help Palestine Motion.” That was sufficient for police to step in. However because the demonstration started to wind down, police and protest organizers sparred over the variety of arrests because the organizers sought to indicate that the legislation was unworkable. “The police have solely been in a position to arrest a fraction of these supposedly committing ‘terrorism’ offenses, and most of these have been given road bail and allowed to go house,” Defend Our Juries, which organized the protest, stated in a press release. “It is a main embarrassment to (the federal government), additional undermining the credibility of this broadly ridiculed legislation, introduced in to punish these exposing the federal government’s personal crimes.“ London’s Metropolitan Police Service rapidly hit again, saying this wasn’t true and that a lot of those that gathered within the sq. had been onlookers, media or individuals who did not maintain placards supporting the group. “We’re assured that anybody who got here to Parliament Sq. in the present day to carry a placard expressing help for Palestine Motion was both arrested or is within the means of being arrested,” the police power stated in a press release. On Friday, police stated the demonstration was uncommon in that the protesters needed to be arrested in giant numbers in order to put a pressure on police and the broader prison justice system. Why the group is being banned The federal government moved to ban Palestine Motion after the activists broke right into a British air power base in southern England on June 20 to protest British army help for the Israel-Hamas battle. The activists sprayed pink paint into the engines of two tanker planes on the RAF Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire and brought on additional harm with crowbars. Palestine Motion had beforehand focused Israeli protection contractors and different websites in the UK that they consider have hyperlinks with the Israeli army. Supporters of the group are difficult the ban in courtroom, saying the federal government has gone too far in declaring Palestine Motion a terrorist group. “As soon as the that means of ‘terrorism’ is separated from campaigns of violence towards a civilian inhabitants, and prolonged to incorporate these inflicting financial harm or embarrassment to the wealthy, the highly effective and the prison, then the best to freedom of expression has no that means and democracy is lifeless,” Defend Our Juries stated on its web site. Busy weekend of protests The arrests exterior Parliament got here amid what is anticipated to be a busy weekend of demonstrations in London because the battle in Gaza and considerations about immigration spur protests and counterprotests throughout the UK. Whereas Prime Minister Keir Starmer has angered Israel with plans to acknowledge a Palestinian state later this yr, many Palestinian supporters in Britain criticize the federal government for not doing sufficient to finish the battle in Gaza. Professional-Palestinian protesters gathered Saturday afternoon in central London for a march that ended exterior the gates of No. 10 Downing Avenue, the prime minister’s official residence and workplaces. On Sunday, numerous teams are scheduled to march by way of central London to demand the secure launch of the Israeli hostages in Gaza. Palestinian militants have held the captives since Hamas-led attackers surged into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing round 1,200 individuals and taking 251 hostage. There are 50 remaining hostages, with 20 of them regarded as alive. Police are additionally making ready for protests exterior inns throughout the nation which can be getting used to deal with asylum-seekers. Protesters and counterprotesters have squared off exterior the inns in latest weeks, with some saying the migrants pose a danger to their communities and others decrying anti-immigrant racism. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan stated the dimensions of the occasions would “put strain” on the police division. “That is going to be a very busy few days in London with many simultaneous protests and occasions that can require a major policing presence,” Adelekan stated earlier than the protests started.
