London police arrest 48 as hundreds protest Palestine Action ban

Demonstrations in London and Edinburgh come days before a UK Supreme Court appeal challenging the group’s proscription.

A pro-Palestinian activist is carried away by police officers after being arrested during a protest outside the US embassy in London on Saturday [AFP]

Police have arrested at least 48 people after protesters defied a warning not to attend a rally in London against the proscription of Palestine Action , which is classified as a “terrorist” organisation under United Kingdom law.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the United States embassy on Saturday to oppose the ban, which came into effect in July last year under the government of then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

list 1 of 3 Ethnic cleansing fears rise as Israel squeezes space in Gaza: UN

list 2 of 3 Fans voice support on final night of Macklemore’s ‘Free Palestine’ tour

list 3 of 3 A UN protection force must be urgently deployed to Palestine

The demonstration comes ahead of a Supreme Court appeal on Wednesday challenging the campaign group’s proscription.

“So far this afternoon, officers have arrested 48 people,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement posted on X. “The majority of arrests have been for expressing support for a proscribed organisation. Officers remain at the scene and are continuing to make arrests.”

Responding to the police statement, Labour Party MP John McDonnell posted on X, saying someone protesting against the government’s decision to proscribe an organisation cannot be “automatically interpreted” as them supporting that organisation and “therefore committing an arrestable offence”.

He added that he believes the government “made the wrong decision in proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation”.

Saturday’s rally is the first mass protest against the proscription since Prime Minister Andy Burnham assumed office in July.

The decision to designate the group a “terrorist” organisation has triggered uproar among sections of British society, with critics arguing that it is part of a wider crackdown aimed at silencing pro-Palestine voices. The proscription means Palestine Action has been added to a list of banned organisations that also includes al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

UK ‘appeasing Trump and Israeli weapons companies’

Protesters also gathered outside the US consulate in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. There have been no reports of arrests there.

Demonstrators in both London and Edinburgh could be seen holding placards reading “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”.

Defend Our Juries, which organised the protests, said Saturday’s arrests took the total number of people detained for defying the Palestine Action ban to more than 4,000 since July 2025.

“It is truly dystopian that there have now been over 4,000 arrests under terror laws for peaceful vigils silently expressing opposition to genocide and support for the protest group Palestine Action,” a spokesperson for the group said, as reported by UK news agency Press Association.

“The ban on Palestine Action was straight out of [US President Donald] Trump’s playbook, so it’s fitting that this significant milestone has been reached on Halloween and outside the US embassy,” the spokesperson added, saying the proscription was about the UK government “appeasing Trump and the Israeli weapons companies that Palestine Action disrupted, not about any kind of terrorist threat”.

Felix Jakens, Amnesty International UK’s head of communications and campaigns, also called on the government to reverse Palestine Action’s proscription.

“The sight yet again of grandparents, teenagers and everyone in between being hauled into police vans for peacefully holding placards is a disgraceful attack on freedom of speech,” Jakens said in response to the arrests on Saturday.

“It’s past time for the government to drop the proscription of Palestine Action and reform our laws so that communities have more power to demonstrate on the issues they care about, not less.”

伦敦和爱丁堡的示威活动发生在英国最高法院就该组织被取缔一事提起上诉的前几天。

周六，一名亲巴勒斯坦活动人士在伦敦美国大使馆外参加抗议活动时被捕，随后被警察带走。[法新社]

警方逮捕了至少 48 人，此前抗议者无视警告，参加了在伦敦举行的反对取缔巴勒斯坦行动组织的集会。根据英国法律，巴勒斯坦行动组织被列为“恐怖”组织。

周六，数百人聚集在美国大使馆外，反对这项禁令。该禁令于去年 7 月在时任总理基尔·斯塔默的政府领导下生效。

联合国：以色列在加沙地带压缩空间，引发种族清洗担忧（共3条，此为第1条）

列表 2/3：歌迷在 Macklemore “自由巴勒斯坦”巡演最后一晚表达支持

清单3（共3条）：必须紧急向巴勒斯坦部署联合国保护部队

此次示威活动正值最高法院周三就该运动组织的禁令提起上诉之际。

伦敦警察厅在X网站上发表声明称：“截至今天下午，警方已逮捕48人。其中大部分人是因为表达了对一个被禁组织的支持而被捕。警方仍在现场继续进行逮捕行动。”

针对警方声明，工党议员约翰·麦克唐纳在X上发帖称，抗议政府取缔某个组织的人不能“自动解释”为支持该组织，从而“犯下可逮捕的罪行”。

他还补充说，他认为政府“将巴勒斯坦行动组织列为恐怖组织是一个错误的决定”。

周六的集会是自总理安迪·伯纳姆7月上任以来，首次针对该禁令的大规模抗议活动。

将该组织列为“恐怖组织”的决定在英国社会部分人士中引发轩然大波，批评人士认为这是旨在压制亲巴勒斯坦声音的更广泛镇压行动的一部分。这项禁令意味着“巴勒斯坦行动”已被列入被禁组织名单，该名单中还包括基地组织和“伊斯兰国”（ISIS）。

英国“安抚特朗普和以色列武器公司”

抗议者还聚集在苏格兰首府爱丁堡的美国领事馆外。目前尚无逮捕报告。

在伦敦和爱丁堡，示威者们举着标语牌，上面写着“我反对种族灭绝。我支持巴勒斯坦行动”。

组织抗议活动的“捍卫我们的陪审团”组织表示，周六的逮捕行动使自 2025 年 7 月以来因违反巴勒斯坦行动禁令而被拘留的人数超过 4000 人。

据英国新闻协会报道，该组织的一位发言人表示：“如今已有超过 4000 人因和平守夜活动而被捕，这些活动只是默默地表达了对种族灭绝的反对和对抗议组织‘巴勒斯坦行动’的支持，这真是反乌托邦式的景象。”

发言人补充说：“对巴勒斯坦行动组织的禁令完全出自（美国总统唐纳德·）特朗普的剧本，因此，在万圣节当天，在美国大使馆外达到这一重要里程碑，也算是恰如其分。”他还表示，这项禁令是英国政府为了“安抚特朗普和巴勒斯坦行动组织扰乱的以色列武器公司，而不是出于任何恐怖主义威胁”。

英国国际特赦组织传播与宣传负责人费利克斯·雅肯斯也呼吁政府撤销对巴勒斯坦行动组织的禁令。

“看到祖父母、青少年以及介于两者之间的所有人仅仅因为和平地举着标语牌就被拖进警车，这是对言论自由的可耻攻击，”杰肯斯在周六的逮捕事件后回应道。

“政府早就应该取消对巴勒斯坦行动组织的禁令，并改革我们的法律，让社区拥有更多权力就他们关心的问题进行示威，而不是更少。”