Dozens of Palestine Action demonstrators have been arrested after they gathered at the US embassy on Saturday.
Defend Our Juries, who organised the protest, said it expected to see 400 people show support for the group by holding up signs reading ‘I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action’ – although images suggest the actual number was a little over 100.
Expressing support for the group is an offence in the UK under the Terrorism Act after it was proscribed in June 2025.
After protesters gathered outside the embassy and unveiled their signs, officers from the Met Police were quick to move in and began making arrests.
Shortly before 4pm, the force said it had arrested 48 people so far, but that detentions were still ongoing.
Defend Our Juries said its latest demonstration comes ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on the Palestine Action ban.
Talking about its chosen location for the protest, the group said the US had ‘not shied away’ from participation in the Palestine conflict.
In August, the US government announced sanctions against Palestine Action, designating it a terror group.
Scotland Yard said Palestine Action-related protests ‘take significant police resources away from the neighbourhoods and communities where they are most needed’.
Protesters are being arrested by the Met Police outside the US embassy after allegedly showing support for Palestine Action
Protesters outside the British Embassy on Saturday held signs in support of Palestine Action, which is proscribed as a terror group by the government
A man is carried away by officers from the Met Police on Saturday afternoon
The Met has said Palestine Action-related protests ‘take significant police resources away from the neighbourhoods and communities where they are most needed’
David Polden, 86, held a satirical sign with ‘I support genocide, I oppose Palestine Action (satire)’ written on it.
Asked why he was at the protest, the retired Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Activist said ‘I’m against genocide, and I’m against the British government supporting genocide.’
He added ‘In spite of my sign, which says, ‘I don’t support Palestine Action,’ I do support Palestine Action because they are attempting to stop genocide.’
Polden claimed that police had attempted to arrest him earlier in the day and only let him go when they realised what was actually written on his sign.
On previous occasions, Polden said he has been arrested after holding signs in support of the proscribed group, and has since been charged with one terror offence.
‘I keep getting notices postponing my [court] hearing until after the Supreme Court decides whether supporting Palestine action was illegal or not,’ he added.
Retired lecturer Christopher Williams, 65, said: ‘This will be my first arrest. I have everything prepared. My family know.
‘I take this stuff seriously. It won’t be a consequence to me. If we don’t do anything, I think we are all culpable then.’
The Met spent £1.3million on six ‘Palestine-Israel public order events’ in June and July, according to its response to a freedom of information request.
Ahead of today’s protest, the force said that anyone holding a sign expressing support for Palestine Action will face arrest – but so could anyone seen to be ‘playing a key role in organising the event’ such as by ‘giving instructions to others and/or providing logistical support’.
Met Commander Adam Slonecki, who is leading the policing operation, said anyone providing logistical support to those holding placards can also expect to be arrested.
He said: ‘All those intending on coming to this event know that supporting a proscribed organisation is unlawful – they are essentially meeting to purposefully commit a crime.
‘The public would rightly expect us to be proactive and not just stand by and wait for offences to be committed.
‘I want to be clear – it is not just those who hold up placards who should expect to be arrested.
‘Anyone officers consider to be playing a key role in organising the event, giving instructions to others and/or providing logistical support will very likely be committing an offence and face enforcement action.
‘This is not about preventing people from expressing their views, but about acting robustly in cases where doing so involves criminality.
Defend Our Juries, which organised the protest, has accused the Met of ‘significant escalation’ and ‘double standards’ over its enforcement of the ban on Palestine Action
Defend Our Juries previously said it was expecting 400 people to protest in support of the group
Police officers detain a protester during a demonstration organised by Defend Our Juries outside the US Embassy
A woman is carried away by four police officers at a protest outside the US embassy on Saturday
‘These events also take significant police resources away from the neighbourhoods and communities where they are most needed. I would urge anyone planning on attending to reconsider.’
A spokesman for Defend Our Juries said: ‘How can the Met possibly justify arresting people who are not defying the ban themselves, who are simply providing logistical support to the peaceful protesters, many of whom are elderly or disabled and in need of support?’
They added: ‘This significant escalation from the Met just brings more sharply into focus the unprecedented attacks on freedom of expression unleashed by the ban on Palestine Action at the centre of the Supreme Court hearing next week, as well as the police’s double standards when it comes to enforcing this ban, which becomes more unsustainable by the day.
‘It is also reckless and irresponsible, putting the safety of elderly and disabled people at risk.’
In June, five Court of Appeal judges said the ban on Palestine Action as a terror group was a ‘justified and proportionate’ interference on freedom of expression rights.
This overturned the judgment of three judges at the High Court who ruled in February that the then-home secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to ban Palestine Action was unlawful, after a legal challenge from the group’s co-founder Huda Ammori.
