UK police say more than 500 people arrested in pro-Palestinian events over weekend : NPR
The demonstrators hold signs during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, on the Place du Parliament, in London, on Saturday August 9, 2025.
Alberto Pezzali / AP
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Alberto Pezzali / AP
LONDR – London police said on Sunday that 532 people had been arrested the day before when supporters of a pro -Palestinian group recently prohibited a terrorist organization breaking the law to test the government’s ability to enforce the ban.
The Metropolitan Police Service has published the updated figures while the demonstrators demanding the immediate release of other Israeli hostages in Gaza held their own march in central London on Sunday afternoon.
The vast majority of people detained on Saturday were arrested for posting signs declaring their support for the group known as the action in Palestine. Police updated his previous totals and said 522 people had been arrested for supporting a prohibited organization in violation of anti-terrorist laws. 10 other people have been arrested for various accusations, including the assault and levy of the police.
The donors of the Palestine action organized the demonstration to underline their conviction that the government illegally limits freedom of expression by prohibiting a direct action organization which disputed its policies.
Interior secretary, Yvette Cooper, who oversees the police in Great Britain, rejected this characterization, claiming that action in Palestine had been prohibited after committing serious attacks involving violence, significant injuries and numerous criminal damages.
“The right to protest is that which we protect with ferocious, but this is very different from the display of this specific and close and proscribed organization,” said Cooper in a statement. “Many people may not yet know the reality of this organization, but the evaluations are very clear, it is not a non-violent organization,” she added.
The police arrested a demonstrator during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, on the Place du Parliament, in London, on Saturday August 9, 2025.
Alberto Pezzali / AP
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Alberto Pezzali / AP
Police have published information updated on the protest of the action in Palestine after the first pages of the Sunday newspapers presented photos of elderly demonstrators who were transported by police officers.
One of them was Pethick, a retired psychotherapist of 89, who told Times of London that she had the support of her five grandchildren. “We have our right of peaceful protest removed,” she said.
Almost half of those arrested were over 60 years old, according to figures published by the MET.
The police said that the process of deciding to deposit charges against those arrested is likely to take weeks as command of the MET counter-terrorism brought together files and request the approval of prosecutors and, in some cases, the Attorney General.
Parliament voted to ban Palestine action after activists broke into a base of the Royal Air Force and damaged two oil tankers to protest British war in Gaza. Palestine Action had previously targeted Israeli defense entrepreneurs and other sites in Great Britain who, according to them, have links with the Israeli army.
Supporters of action in Palestine dispute the prohibition in court, arguing that the government violated human rights laws by declaring the group a terrorist organization.
