London police arrest 523 people at protest over Palestine Action ban
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Police officers detaining a protester in London's Trafalgar Square on April 11.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- London police arrested 212 people at a Trafalgar Square protest against the ban on Palestine Action.
- The ban, enacted under anti-terrorism legislation, followed the group's accusations of UK complicity in Israeli war crimes.
- The arrests occurred despite a recent High Court ruling that the ban was unlawful, a decision the UK is appealing.
AI generated
LONDON - Police said on April 11 they had arrested 523 people at a protest in London’s Trafalgar Square opposing Britain’s banning of the Palestine Action group.
London’s Metropolitan Police said in a post on social media platform X that people were arrested for showing support for a “proscribed organisation”.
The gathering was the first since London’s High Court ruled in February that a ban designating the pro-Palestinian group as a terrorist organisation was unlawful.
British Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood has been granted approval to appeal the ruling.
Lawmakers banned Palestine Action – which accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza – under anti-terrorism legislation in July 2025 after some members broke into a Royal Air Force base.
Israel has repeatedly denied any abuses in its war in Gaza.
During the April 11 demonstration, placard-holding protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves and waving Palestinian flags, sat on the ground or on camping chairs. REUTERS
