Over 200 arrested as hundreds gather to defy Palestine Action ban in London

Over 200 people have been arrested central London on Saturday at a mass demonstration opposing the UK government’s proscription of the direct action group Palestine Action.

Some 500 protesters set up camping chairs at the foot of the steps of Trafalgar Square, displaying handmade cardboard signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”

The demonstrators were met with a heavy police presence, with vans lining the square hours before the vigil began. 

The protesters - many of them grey-haired and frail - were seen being hauled away, while some were led leaning on crutches. A number of the demonstrators were dressed as Suffragettes, early women’s rights activists.

One woman appeared to faint as she was being carried and was put into the recovery position while surrounded by police. 

The sight has been a familiar one over the last year, with over 1,600 people arrested under the terrorism legislation for holding the same signs since the ban was introduced in July 2025.

'The state is a joke'

Many of the people gathered in Trafalgar Square have been arrested multiple times for the same offence.

Brother and sister, Mark and Betty, both in their 70s, had travelled from Wales and Cornwall, respectively, to join the vigil. Both had previously taken part in local protests, but this is the first time they have attended one in London.

“We’re both Jewish, so it matters doubly to us,” Mark told Middle East Eye. “I’m a genocide scholar, so it matters trebly to me.”

“I don't want to be here. I want the government to acknowledge a failing and unravel this.”

Betty, meanwhile, said: “There is really very little else we can do. We’ve done everything: protests, writing letters and petitions.”

“But clearly this government will not be told unless it is forced to be told by making things very, very difficult for them by being here.”

Betty and Mark are no strangers to arrest for civil disobedience. Like many gathered in Trafalgar Square silently holding their placards, they are veteran anti-war activists.

"But now we've got into the stage where we're not even allowed to turn up on the street with a bit of paper for being absurdly peaceful people.”

Former Palestine Action prisoners, who launched a 73-day hunger strike behind bars over their detention conditions and the proscription, were also present.

Heba Muraisi said she had watched previous Lift the Ban protests on a small television in prison.

“It's crazy actually witnessing it. It’s both insane and disgusting,” she told MEE. “Look how many police are here, just for elderly people holding placards. It's a joke. The state is a joke.”

Trudi Warner, who previously faced contempt of court charges for holding a placard outside a climate trial about jury rights, said the government is “out of touch” with public sentiment.

“People are outraged, they are furious, and we’re trying to show that,” Warner said. 

“Our thing is show, don’t tell. We can tell people that we're living in an authoritarian state. They won't believe us, but we can show them, and that's what these actions are all about.”

U-turn

The latest arrests come after a ruling by the High Court in February, which found the government’s ban on the group to be unlawful.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was subsequently granted permission to appeal the decision, which will be heard on 28 and 29 April.

Following the court’s decision, London’s Metropolitan Police (Met) said they would refrain from arresting the group’s supporters and people protesting against the proscription under terrorism legislation, focusing instead on gathering evidence for future prosecutions.

'We got into the stage where we're not even allowed to turn up on the street with a bit of paper for being absurdly peaceful people'

- Betty, protester

However, in a policy U-turn, the Met issued a statement describing its previous comments as an “interim position” and said it has now “revised” this approach.

MEE previously reported that, prior to this announcement, the Met had arrested two people for supporting the banned group.

Defend our Juries (DOJ),  the group driving the campaign to lift the ban, said it wrote to Met Commissioner Mark Rowley, warning of the potential legal repercussions of arrests following the court’s ruling.

The group said it had first organised Saturday’s vigil on the basis of its initial policy of suspending arrests, noting that the police had failed to “respond substantively” to correspondence from its lawyers.

DOJ said any arrests would be unlawful as they would violate the protesters’ democratic rights under the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights.

“It is clear that the Metropolitan Police has adopted a policy of a) refusing to investigate crimes under the ICCA relating to the acts of the government of Israel; and b) suppressing public expression of opposition to such crimes,” it said in a statement.

“Such a biased and discriminatory policy materially assists both the Israeli Government and Elbit Systems in the commission of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

'Challenging optics'

In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Dal Babu, a former Met chief superintendent, said the “optics” of the mass arrests “will be very challenging for the police... in terms of how they manage it”.

“Also be aware of the fact there will be a huge amount of people who have sympathy with what is going on with the views of Palestine Action.”

The arrests of protesters defying the ban account for the majority of some 1,800 terrorism arrests conducted in 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 660 percent, according to Home Office figures.

Multiple rights groups have warned that the ban constitutes a misuse of counterterrorism legislation and risks undermining human rights such as freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. 

A DOJ spokesperson said the movement to overturn the ban “has grown beyond a question of the right to protest”.

“The government’s refusal to accept the judgment of the High Court, coupled with inconsistent and opaque policing decisions, signals a troubling disregard for the rule of law. 

“These are not the actions of institutions committed to protecting citizens, but of a state prioritising its own authority. Today’s wrongful arrests of... people holding signs at a silent vigil are further evidence of this.”