Almost 900 people were arrested in central London on Saturday during a protest against the government’s decision to ban the activist group Palestine Action.
According to the Metropolitan police, 857 of those arrests were made under the Terrorism Act for showing support for a proscribed group. Another 33 people were detained for different offences, including 17 accused of assaulting police officers.
Police said those arrested were taken to a processing centre in Westminster. Many were later released on bail after confirming their details, while those who refused to provide information—or were already on bail—were transferred to custody suites. The Met’s counter-terrorism command will investigate the 857 cases linked to the Terrorism Act.
Around 1,500 people gathered in Parliament Square for the protest, which campaigners described as peaceful. But police reported that officers were punched, kicked, spat on, and had objects thrown at them.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Claire Smart, who oversaw the operation, thanked officers for their “professionalism and tireless work despite the level of abuse they faced.” She claimed that some protesters had coordinated acts of violence while wearing masks to hide their identities.
Smart drew a contrast with another demonstration on the same day—the Palestine Coalition march, which attracted around 20,000 people—saying it was proof that causes could be expressed “without committing an offence under the Terrorism Act or descending into violence and disorder.”
The protest was organised by Defend Our Juries (DOJ), which insisted the rally was peaceful and condemned the ban. In a statement, the group said:
“Fifteen hundred people entirely peacefully defying the ban, holding cardboard signs in quiet dignity, sends a clear and powerful message to the new home secretary… Such an unjust law will inevitably have to be abandoned. These mass acts of defiance will continue until the ban is lifted.”
Palestine Action was officially banned as a terrorist organisation in July, after it claimed responsibility for damaging two Voyager aircraft at RAF Brize Norton on 20 June. Photo by Alisdare Hickson from Woolwich, United Kingdom, Wikimedia commons.