Police in London have arrested hundreds of people at a protest in support of the group Palestine Action, which was classified as a “terror organisation” by the British government last month.
The Metropolitan Police said 474 demonstrators had been arrested at Parliament Square by 9pm local time (20:00 GMT) on Saturday “for showing support for Palestine Action”.
Scores of people simultaneously unveiled handwritten signs with the message "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action" at the protest, organised by Defend Our Juries at Westminster's Parliament Square.
The government proscribed the group in July under the Terrorism Act of 2000, making membership of or support for it a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Footage from the square showed officers moving among the protesters, who were mainly seated on the ground, and speaking to them before leading them away.
Protesters whose details could be confirmed during processing were bailed with conditions not to attend any further protest in support of Palestine Action.
People who refused to give their details or whose identities could not be verified were taken into custody.
Many of the protesters didn't want to speak to media who came to cover the protest, but one - who didn't give her name - told the BBC: "If they ban Palestine Action, what other group is next? Until we're just no longer allowed to protest anything. That's the opposite of democracy."
Another, Claudia Penna-Rojas, 27, said: "I don't think anyone wants to get arrested, but I'm more concerned with what is happening to people in Palestine right now, and I refuse to be a bystander."
Jacob Ecclestone, 86, said: "I believe in freedom of speech. What this government is trying to do is deeply authoritarian. And it's extremely dangerous."
Earlier, the Met Police had said about 500 to 600 people were in Parliament Square when the protest began, but that "many were onlookers, media or people not holding placards in support of Palestine Action".
At 13:00, when Big Ben chimed, hundreds of people sat on the square pulled out their placards, at which point the police started making multiple arrests at a time, working their way through the crowds.
Protesters patiently waited their turns. Some chose to walk out quietly. Those who refused to move, lying on the ground, were carried out by police.
Chief executive of Amnesty International, Sacha Deshmukh, said people outraged by the "ongoing genocide" in Gaza were "entitled under international human rights law to express their horror".
"The protesters in Parliament Square were not inciting violence and it is entirely disproportionate to the point of absurdity to be treating them as terrorists," he said.
Source: Agencies
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