UK police arrest nearly 500 at pro-Palestine Action protest in London
UK police arrest nearly 500 at pro-Palestine Action protest in London
M.U.H
05/10/202546
British police have arrested nearly 500 people in central London during a mass demonstration in support of Palestine Action, a direct action movement committed to ending global support for the genocidal Israeli regime.
The demonstration took place in London’s Trafalgar Square on Saturday, with protesters calling on the British government to remove the “terrorist” designation of Palestine Action.
The pro-Palestine group, which takes direct action against Israeli weapon factories in the UK and their supply chain, was proscribed by the UK government in July, making it illegal to show any support or affiliation to them.
Under the new legislation, membership of or public support for the group is now a criminal offense in the UK, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Organizers of the protest — Defend Our Juries — said 1,000 people attended the event to “oppose genocide and the Palestine Action ban.”
The Metropolitan Police said 492 people had been arrested, with the youngest being 18 and the eldest 89. The force added that 297 remain in custody, and the rest have been bailed.
While the bulk of the arrests were made in Trafalgar Square, local media reports said six people were arrested before the demonstration even began for unfurling banners which read “I oppose genocide,” and “I support Palestine Action,” on Westminster Bridge.
“We are going to win this battle, by the way, there’s no doubt about that. The problem for me is that I want to win it now to try and bring an end to the suffering in Palestine,” said 62-year-old protester Mike Higgins.
The Met said a different group of protesters also gathered in Whitehall in Westminster before trying to make their way to Trafalgar Square and attend the pro-Palestine rally two days after a terrorist attack on the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in the Manchester suburb of Crumpsall.
Organizers defied calls by the police and government to postpone the protest following the deadly attack as London’s authorities claimed Jewish figures criticize the pro-Palestine protests.
Zoe Cohen, a Defend Our Juries member, said as a Jewish person she is “grieving after the appalling synagogue attack” but also “grieving for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been murdered, displaced and starved in Gaza.”
She added, “I think it’s possible for us to be compassionate and open our hearts to victims of multiple atrocities at one time.”
A vicar, who had been sitting in Trafalgar Square with her eyes closed and holding a poster saying, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action,” was also among those arrested and carried out by police.
Last month, the world’s leading association of genocide scholars said that the Israeli regime’s atrocities in Gaza meet the legal definition as laid out in the UN Genocide Convention.
Across a three-page resolution, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) admitted that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza, especially since October 2023, violate all five conditions outlined in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, it has killed at least 67,074 Palestinians and injured over 169,430 others, most of them women and children.
Experts believe the true number of casualties is significantly higher, as thousands remain unaccounted for or lie buried under rubble.
In November last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former minister of military affairs, Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes related to Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
