UK police arrest almost 900 protesters at pro-Palestine Action rally

Nearly 900 people were detained in London as part of a protest to support the banned Palestine Action, according to police.

The new tally, which was made public on Sunday, highlights the strict treatment of the demonstrators by police, who the organisers claimed were peaceful.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

On suspicion of showing support for a proscribed group, the Metropolitan Police said they detained 890 people on Saturday, including 857. For allegedly assaulting officers and other public order offenses, 33 others were detained.

The campaign group Defend Our Juries, which organized the protest on Saturday, refuted police claims that the demonstrators were violent.

Vicars and priests, veterans of the Holocaust and their descendants, retired teachers and healthcare workers were just a few of the 857 arrestees, according to a statement from the organization.

In order to justify arresting peace demonstrators with signs that read “I oppose genocide – I support Palestine Action,” the police were accused of making “many false claims and attempts to smear the protesters.”

The Met has not provided any supporting evidence, according to Defend Our Juries, but video footage clearly shows the Met violently acquiescing to arrests, beating people to the ground, and using their batons, according to the statement.

“We’re not violent, how are you?”

Police reportedly used batons during altercations with protesters, according to The Press Association news agency. Officers were seen shouting at demonstrators as they made their way through the crowd while carrying the arrested.

The organization reported that several protesters fell in a crush while several others threw water and plastic bottles at the police. After being arrested, a man was spotted with blood streaming down his face.

Officers had been subjected to “coordinated” violence, according to deputy assistant police commissioner Claire Smart.

Many thousands of people in London use the phrase “you can express your support for a cause without committing an offence under the Terrorism Act or going into violence and disorder,” she said in a statement.

Belfast and Edinburgh also hosted rallyes. A third man, 63, was accused of a hate crime while two men, 67 and 82, were detained and charged with “terror” crimes according to Police Scotland.

The latest demonstrations against the UK government’s proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act of 2000 are the protests.

After claiming responsibility for spraying two Voyager refueling and transport planes at a military base with red paint, the group was banned. It has targeted arms factories and other sites linked to arms exports to Israel.

The current criminal offense for supporting Palestine Action is being a member or expressing your support for it.

United Nations human rights experts expressed concern over what they termed as “unjustified labeling of a political protest movement as terrorist” in July, arguing that “acts of protest that damage property but are not intended to kill or injure people should not be treated as terrorism.”

The Home Office is meanwhile challenging a High Court ruling that allows cofounder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, to file a legal challenge to the ban.

Former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s proscription of the group was the subject of legal action by Ammori, who claimed that it unlawfully criminalized political dissent.

The weekend protests took place as Israel’s renewed assault on Gaza, which academics, leading human rights organizations, and UN experts have described as a genocide, was taking place.