London, October 5(HS): In a sweeping police operation on Saturday, nearly 500 demonstrators were arrested during a protest in central London supporting the proscribed activist group Palestine Action, according to the Metropolitan Police.
Organised by the advocacy group Defend Our Juries, the event drew around 1,000 participants to Trafalgar Square and nearby locations, despite official warnings and heightened community tensions in the wake of Thursday’s deadly synagogue attack in Manchester.
Authorities stated that 488 of the arrests were for supporting a proscribed organisation, an offence under anti-terror legislation, with detainees ranging in age from 18 to 89. Six individuals were arrested for unfurling banners on Westminster Bridge backing Palestine Action.
The majority of the detentions required significant police resources, with officers carrying out demonstrators who refused to leave the square.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had appealed to organisers to respect the grief of British Jews following the Manchester attack, while advocacy groups representing the Jewish community described the protest as phenomenally tone deaf.
However, Jewish activists participating in the demonstration, including Defend Our Juries member Zoe Cohen, emphasised the need for empathy for all victims of violence, including Palestinians in Gaza.Despite calls from ministers and the police to postpone, Defend Our Juries pressed ahead with the demonstration, reading the names of Palestinian children killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict during a silent vigil.
The Metropolitan Police deployed 1,500 officers to handle the protest and imposed public order restrictions on a related group blocking Whitehall, redirecting them to Richmond Terrace.Amnesty International UK denounced the arrests as violations of international human rights obligations, citing the detention of peaceful demonstrators, including a vicar holding a poster opposing genocide.
The protest comes after the UK government outlawed Palestine Action in July, following the group’s involvement in damaging military assets, and as the organisation contests its status in court.Parallel marches also took place in Manchester, with about 100 people turning out to condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza—described by organisers as two years of genocide, a label Israel denies but which has drawn renewed scrutiny from genocide scholars.
Saturday’s protest and mass arrests reflect deepening fault lines in the UK over the Gaza conflict and the tension between protest rights and national security priorities. As of Saturday night, 297 of those arrested remained in custody, with the remainder released on bail, according to police.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
