Dozens of Palestine Action supporters were arrested on Saturday after gathering outside the US embassy in London.
Defend Our Juries, the group behind the protest, had predicted that around 400 people would attend and hold placards stating, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”. Images from the demonstration, however, appeared to show just over 100 participants.
Under the UK Terrorism Act, publicly expressing support for Palestine Action is an offence following the group’s proscription in June 2025.
As demonstrators assembled outside the embassy and raised their signs, Metropolitan Police officers moved in swiftly and began making arrests.
Just before 4pm, the force said 48 people had been arrested, adding that officers were continuing to detain protesters.
Defend Our Juries said the protest was held ahead of a Supreme Court hearing examining the government’s ban on Palestine Action.
Explaining its decision to demonstrate outside the US embassy, the group said the United States had “not shied away” from involvement in the conflict involving Palestine.
The US government announced sanctions against Palestine Action in August, formally designating the organisation as a terrorist group.
Scotland Yard said protests linked to Palestine Action “take significant police resources away from the neighbourhoods and communities where they are most needed”.
Met Police officers arrest protesters outside the US embassy after they allegedly showed support for Palestine Action
Protesters outside the British Embassy on Saturday displayed signs backing Palestine Action, which has been proscribed as a terror group by the government
A man is carried away by Met Police officers on Saturday afternoon
The Met has said protests connected to Palestine Action “take significant police resources away from the neighbourhoods and communities where they are most needed”
David Polden, 86, attended with a satirical placard reading, “I support genocide, I oppose Palestine Action (satire)”.
The retired Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament activist said he had joined the protest because he was “against genocide” and “against the British government supporting genocide”.
He said: “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 officers had tried to arrest him earlier in the day but released him after realising the full wording of his placard.
He said he had previously been arrested for holding signs supporting the proscribed organisation and had since been charged with one terrorism offence.
“I keep getting notices postponing my [court] hearing until after the Supreme Court decides whether supporting Palestine Action was illegal or not,” he said.
Retired lecturer Christopher Williams, 65, said: “This will be my first arrest. I have everything prepared. My family know.”
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‘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.