Several dozen protesters were arrested in London on Saturday following the implementation of a ban by the UK government on the protest organization Palestine Action.
The group, whose campaigns of non-violent direct action against Israel-associated companies have previously been hugely controversial, has now been classified as a terrorist group under the Terrorism Act 2000. The decision was made following a last-minute attempt in a court battle on Friday to stop the ban.
Membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence in the UK from Saturday.
Metropolitan Police confirmed officers had begun making arrests at a protest in Parliament Square.
"The organization is now proscribed, and it is a criminal offense to show support for them," the police said in a statement. "Arrests are being made."
More than 20 individuals were arrested on terrorism charges, police added.
"There are all sorts of things taking place this weekend in London, and police will act where criminal activity — and this includes support for proscribed organisations — is identified," the statement continued.
Earlier this week, MPs voted by a large majority to approve Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's proscription of Palestine Action. The House of Lords also backed the move, and with it, a non-violent protest organisation was becoming an anti-terror law target for the first time.
The move has prompted widespread condemnation. United Nations officials, human rights groups, top cultural personalities, and hundreds of lawyers denounced the action as totalitarian, asserting that it dangerously blurs the line between protest and terrorism.
Palestine Action responded by stating that it would apply for an immediate appeal against the ban, terming the ban a "dystopian nightmare" that could criminalize thousands of individuals. A court hearing on July 21 will hear the group's application to seek permission to mount a judicial review to challenge the ban.
Should that fail, members and supporters of Palestine Action face the threat of being imprisoned for up to 14 years.
Meanwhile, pro-Palestine activists disrupted the London Pride parade on Saturday by targeting a float from US tech firm CISCO. Four members of the group Youth Demand covered the truck in red paint, accusing the company of complicity in “genocide” and claiming it should have “no place” at the event.
The disruption came less than a day after the formal ban on Palestine Action was enacted. Photo by Alisdare Hickson from Woolwich, United Kingdom, Wikimedia commons.