\n<\/p>\n
A woman is detained by police officers as supporters of Palestine Action take part in a mass action in Parliament Square, Westminster, central London, on Saturday August 9, 2025. Credit – Stefan Rousseau\u2014Press Association via AP <\/em><\/p>\n P<\/span>olice in London arrested at least 365 protesters on Saturday who defied an anti-terror law by holding placards expressing support for a recently banned pro-Palestinian group<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the British Parliament to hold signs reading “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” in what they said was a protest for freedom of expression.<\/p>\n By doing so, the protesters violated a law passed by the British Parliament in early July that classified Palestine Action as a terror organization and made it illegal for anyone to publicly show support for it.<\/p>\n The legislation was passed in response to an incident in which activists from the group broke into a Royal Air Force base and vandalized two tanker aircraft in protest against the United Kingdom\u2019s support for Israel, and against Israel\u2019s ongoing war in Gaza.<\/p>\n “Within this crowd a significant number of people are displaying placards expressing support for Palestine Action, which is a proscribed group,” the Metropolitan Police Service said on X. “Officers have moved in and are making arrests.” Police later said they had arrested 365 people for \u201csupporting a proscribed organization.\u201d<\/p>\n Read more<\/strong>: Why U.K. Police Plan to Arrest Anyone Showing Support for Palestine Action at Upcoming Protest<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act 2000.<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s demonstration was organized by a group called Defend Our Juries, which called for people to attend the protest with signs expressing support for Palestine Action in a demonstration of civil disobedience.<\/p>\n “Once the meaning of ‘terrorism’ is separated from campaigns of violence against a civilian population, and extended to include those causing economic damage or embarrassment to the rich, the powerful and the criminal, then the right to freedom of expression has no meaning and democracy is dead,” the group said on its website.<\/p>\n Rights group Amnesty International described the arrests as \u201cdeeply concerning.\u201d It has previously criticized the law as \u201cexcessively broad and vaguely worded and a threat to freedom of expression.\u201d<\/p>\n Palestine Action was established in 2020 and claims to take \u201caim at the infrastructure that sustains the Israeli occupation,\u201d according to co-founder Huda Ammori<\/a>.<\/p>\n The group has frequently targeted Elbit Systems, an Israel-based defense contractor that earlier this year signed a contract <\/a>with the Israeli government worth $275 million.<\/p>\n Palestine Action staged break-ins at Elbit sites across the U.K. last year in the city of Bristol, and at a factory in the county of Kent, where around \u00a31 million ($1.33 million) worth of property was reportedly destroyed<\/a>.<\/p>\n The group was proscribed as a terrorist group<\/a> under the 2000 Terrorism Act by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on July 5, after members of the group broke into a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire on June 20, spray painting two Voyager jets and damaging them with crowbars.<\/p>\n The British Government<\/a> said that the group \u201chas orchestrated a nationwide campaign of direct criminal action against businesses and institutions\u201d and that it \u201cprepares for, promotes, and encourages terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cProscription will enable law enforcement to effectively disrupt Palestine Action,\u201d the government order read, meaning that support for the group is now deemed a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.<\/p>\n Palestine Action was proscribed alongside two groups<\/a> described as \u201cwhite-supremacist\u201d movements, the Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement.<\/p>\n The Israel-Hamas war was triggered after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the absence of independent monitoring on the ground, the ministry is the primary source for casualty data relied upon by humanitarian groups, journalists, and international bodies. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants and cannot be independently verified by TIME.<\/p>\n The humanitarian toll in Gaza continues to rise, after a U.N.-backed food security body warned last week that the \u201cworst case famine scenario\u201d<\/a> is unfolding.<\/p>\n \u201cMounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,\u201d the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0on July 29.<\/p>\n At least 197 people have now died from mass hunger, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Additional reporting by Callum Sutherland <\/em><\/p>\n Contact us<\/strong> at letters@time.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nWhat is Palestine Action?<\/h2>\n