England and Wales arrest dozens of Palestine Action supporters

Police in England and Wales arrested more than 140 people on Tuesday, the first day of coordinated protests against the UK government’s proscription of the direct action group Palestine Action.

No arrests were made at parallel events in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In each location, protesters staged sit-downs, holding signs that read, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine.”

The group, Defend Our Juries (DOJ), which organised the protests, said an estimated 142 people were arrested on Tuesday, with more actions scheduled to take place this week ahead of the planned judicial review into the ban on Palestine Action on 24 November.

In Scotland, meanwhile, police made no arrests at a protest involving 49 people standing outside the government's Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh. The Scottish Police Force declined to make arrests at four similar actions this year.

In May, Scotland's Counter-Terrorism Board said that Palestine Action "has not been close to meeting the statutory definition of terrorism". A legal challenge to the proscription is ongoing in the Scottish Courts.

While in Northern Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) did not arrest participants at a similar sign-holding protest in the city of Derry. A planned protest in Belfast on 22 November will be the first held in the city.

In England and Wales, the DOJ reported arrests at every protest site, including 27 in Nottingham, 25 in Leeds, 20 in Oxford, 17 in Gloucester, 12 in Cardiff, 12 in Newcastle, nine in Northampton, and nine in Truro.  

Local media in Truro reported that police withdrew after making eight arrests, citing limited capacity to detain the remaining participants. Devon and Cornwall had previously declined to arrest sign-holders at two earlier actions.

Broad terrorism laws

Earlier this year, Yvette Cooper, then home secretary, banned Palestine Action and designated the group as a terrorist organisation after members broke into a military airbase.

The ban makes expressing support for, or membership of, the group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Following the designation, thousands have risked arrest under the Terrorism Act for holding signs reading, "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action."

Since the ban, the DOJ has reported that more than 2,000 people have been arrested under terror charges, while 170 face charges under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act.

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Following previous actions, the South Wales Police raided the homes of several protesters after arresting them under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act.

The government's designation has faced renewed scrutiny after a panel, including a former MI6 director, warned that UK terrorism laws have become overly broad.

A separate advisory body said the ban risked inflaming tensions and raising the profile of the direct action group. Five UN experts also criticised the move as unjustified and "more associated with authoritarian states".

Tuesday's protests also coincided with the first day of the trial of six Palestine Action activists who broke into a weapons factory owned by Israeli arms company Elbit Systems.

London's Woolwich Crown Court heard that the six defendants broke into premises of owned by the arms firm in Filton, near Bristol, wearing red jumpsuits and carrying sledgehammers in the early hours of 6 August.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer told jurors that they crashed through the site’s fencing and broke into the factory in a prison van allegedly driven by Charlotte Head.

Video footage presented to the jury was said to show activists spraying red paint and using sledgehammers to damage machinery inside the facility.

The defendants were arrested on site and have been held on remand beyond the UK’s standard pre-trial custody time limit for the Crown Court, which is 182 days.