Several hundred people were arrested in London on Saturday under British terrorism laws during a protest of the government’s decision to ban a pro-Palestinian activist group.
The group, Palestine Action, was designated a terrorist organization in July after two of its members broke into a British military base and damaged planes to protest Britain’s military support for Israel. It was the first organization to be banned under a segment of Britain’s legal definition of terrorism that covers serious property damage, rather than violence against people, to advance a political cause.
The designation put Palestine Action on the same legal footing as groups like Al Qaeda, and it criminalizes membership or involvement with the group, as well as some public expressions of support.
Saturday’s arrests escalated the confrontation between the British authorities and supporters of Palestine Action over applying the terrorism law to protests, an otherwise protected form of expression in Britain.
As Big Ben struck 1 p.m., hundreds of protesters who had gathered outside Parliament took out pens and wrote “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action” on pieces of cardboard and paper, before sitting silently on the ground.
The police began arresting demonstrators one by one, asking them if they would cooperate before carrying them away if they refused to walk, as supporters applauded and shouted “shame on you” at officers. The law used criminalizes the wearing, display or publication of anything that “arouses reasonable suspicion” of support for a banned group.
Among the protesters was Diane Afhim, a 69-year-old teacher, who said she was “happy to be arrested.”
“I feel that justice is not working if people are being arrested for holding a sign,” she said. “This is not my Britain.”
Also holding a sign was Emily Hepburn, 36, who had traveled more than 100 miles to join the protest from her home on England’s south coast. She called the ban of Palestine Action “nonsense” and voiced hope that it would be overturned by the courts.
“I’m here because I feel like not enough people are speaking up and there’s not enough outrage about what is happening in Gaza,” she said. “I wanted to do something.”
By 9 p.m., more than 425 people had been arrested, the Metropolitan Police said at their final briefing of the day. In a statement, the force said that the majority of arrests were for “expressing support for a proscribed organization,” but that 25 people had assaulted the police as part of efforts to “prevent officers carrying out their duties.”
More than 500 people were arrested on Aug. 9 after holding signs with the same wording at another protest in Parliament Square.
International human rights groups have condemned the British government’s ban of Palestine Action, but the British government has defended its decision. The security minister, Dan Jarvis, said that Palestine Action had crossed the legal threshold for terrorism and that its activities had “increased in frequency and severity,” with some members “demonstrating a willingness to use violence.”
Before the June break-in at Britain’s largest air base, R.A.F. Brize Norton, the group had mainly targeted Elbit Systems U.K., an arm of Israel’s largest arms manufacturer. Some of those protests involved vandalism and in one case, members of the group attacked police officers and a security guard, prosecutors have said. The activists have denied the charges stemming from the events.
Lawyers representing Palestine Action are challenging the ban, arguing that it was unlawfully implemented and violates freedom of speech.
Government lawyers will put forth arguments aiming to halt the challenge at a hearing set for Sept. 25.
Speaking at a news conference on Friday, senior Metropolitan Police officers said that Palestine Action was a banned terrorist organization and that they would enforce the law.
A deputy assistant commissioner, Ade Adelekan, accused organizers of Saturday’s protest of trying to “overwhelm” the police by knowingly breaking the law and forcing mass arrests.
“If anyone shows support for Palestine Action,” he said, “it is an offense under the Terrorism Act, and they will get arrested.”
The Defend Our Juries group, which organized the demonstration, advised protesters to passively resist arrest and refuse to give police their names and addresses, to force officers to take them into custody.
Six people accused of organizing Defend Our Juries meetings were arrested hours before a scheduled news conference on Tuesday and charged with encouraging support for Palestine Action, an offense for which those found guilty can be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison.
When the rescheduled news conference took place without them on Wednesday, Defend Our Juries supporters accused the British government and the police of attacking free speech and the right to protest.
Helen Flanagan, from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, said the police would continue facilitating pro-Palestinian protests that do not involve support for Palestine Action.
She pointed to a separate protest by the Palestine Coalition, an unrelated group, in London on Saturday. “There are legitimate ways to carry out protest activity which do not involve breaking counterterrorism laws,” she said, “and thousands of people have been doing that on a regular basis.”
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