hundreds arrested in London

London — Some 365 people have been arrested for supporting banned group Palestine Action, with a further five detained for assaulting police officers, after protesters gathered in central London.

Hundreds attended Saturday’s demonstration in Parliament Square, organized by Defend Our Juries.

The Metropolitan Police said it would arrest anyone expressing support for Palestine Action.

In an update posted on X, Scotland Yard said 365 people had been arrested for supporting a proscribed organisation as of 6 pm (1700 GMT).

A further seven arrests were made for other offences, including five for assaults on officers. None were seriously injured, the force added.

The Met earlier said the detained protesters were taken to prisoner processing points in the Westminster area, and those whose details could be confirmed were bailed, with conditions not to attend any further protest in support of Palestine Action.

Those whose details were refused, or could not be verified, were taken to custody suites across London.

The crowd, sat on the grass inside Parliament Square, could be seen writing “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” on white placards at 1 pm, with the vast majority remaining silent.

Several demonstrators carrying placards that read “Palestine Action terrorises Britain while Hamas hides in hospitals, schools and mosques,” briefly walked along the crowd before being led away by police officers.

Other clusters of protesters who were not holding placards gathered around the Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela statues in the square singing pro-Palestinian chants.

Officers were holding individual demonstrators sat on the edge of the grass before escorting them through swelling crowds to police vans parked on the edge of the square.

A separate group of officers attended a protester lying next to the fenced-off Emmeline Pankhurst statue.

They later began arresting protesters sat in the middle of Parliament Square.

The officers lifted the protesters – some sitting and some lying flat – off the ground before escorting them away.

Onlookers applauded the protesters and shouted “Shame on you” at the police making arrests.

Protesters who were still sat in the middle of Parliament Square stood up together at 2 pm and held their placards in the air.

One person was also arrested at a separate Palestine Coalition march, which set off from Russell Square heading to Whitehall via Aldwych and the Strand.

The arrest was “for a placard showing support for Palestine Action”, Scotland Yard said.

Membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Earlier this week, the first three people to be charged with supporting Palestine Action in England and Wales were named.

Jeremy Shippam, 71, Judit Murray, also 71, and Fiona Maclean, 53, have all been charged with displaying an article in a public place, arousing reasonable suspicion that they are a supporter of a proscribed organization after their attendance at a previous demonstration last month.

Hundreds have been arrested in the wave of Defend Our Juries protests across the United Kingdom since the ban was implemented by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper last month.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Secretary has been clear that the proscription of Palestine Action is not about Palestine, nor does it affect the freedom to protest on Palestinian rights.

It only applies to the specific and narrow organization whose activities do not reflect or represent the thousands of people across the country who continue to exercise their fundamental rights to protest on different issues.”

“Freedom to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and we protect it fiercely.

“The decision to proscribe was based on strong security advice and the unanimous recommendation by the expert cross-government proscription review group. This followed serious attacks the group has committed, involving violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage,” the spokesperson said.

Sacha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International UK, said: “The protesters in Parliament Square were not inciting violence and it is entirely disproportionate to the point of absurdity to be treating them as terrorists.

“We have long criticised UK terrorism law for being excessively broad and vaguely worded and a threat to freedom of expression. These arrests demonstrate that our concerns were justified.”