London Police Arrest 48 Palestine Solidarity Protesters at Demonstration Against Palestine Action Ban
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement on X that its officers arrested 48 people who took part in the gathering outside the US Embassy
British police arrested 48 demonstrators during a protest vigil in the capital, London, on Saturday in support of the Palestine Action movement, days before the Supreme Court is due to hear a legal challenge to the government’s decision to ban the group and classify it as a “terrorist” organisation.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement on X that its officers arrested 48 people who took part in the gathering outside the US Embassy, noting that arrests were still ongoing at the protest site.
Participants held placards reading: “I oppose genocide, and I support Palestine Action,” in a sign of their rejection of the ban on the movement and the criminalisation of expressing support for it, while the Scottish city of Edinburgh saw a similar demonstration.
The protests came ahead of a scheduled hearing at the British Supreme Court on Wednesday and Thursday to consider the challenge filed by Huda Ammori, one of the founders of Palestine Action, against the decision to ban it, after the Court of Appeal upheld the government’s decision last June.
The British government had added the movement to its list of proscribed organisations in July 2025, following protests by its activists, including actions targeting a Royal Air Force base and a site belonging to the Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems.
Under the ban, expressing support for the movement carries legal prosecution, while the Defend Our Juries organisation, which organises the protests, says it has counted more than 3,900 arrests since the decision took effect, not counting Saturday’s detentions.
The report quoted Steve Masters, a 56-year-old former Royal Air Force serviceman, as saying the ban is “a purely political measure,” arguing that describing members of the movement as terrorists lacks any legal basis and stressing the importance of continuing to pressure the government and the judiciary through protesting.
Also taking part in the protest was Margie Mansfield, a 70-year-old former financial adviser, who said she had been arrested about ten times since she began taking part in protest actions after the war on Gaza in October 2023, even though she had not been participating in demonstrations before that.
Mansfield expressed her declining confidence in the judicial system, indicating that she does not expect the government to back down from its position on banning the movement.
