[News] England and Wales arrest dozens of Palestine Action supporters

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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  England and Wales arrest dozens of Palestine Action supporters

Areeb Ullah
November 19, 2025
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Police response to protests against group’s ban remains divided, with 
Scotland and Northern Ireland making no arrests

Police officers carry away a protestor during a demonstration in support 
of the proscribed group Palestine Action, outside of the Labour Party's 
conference in Liverpool, north-west England, on 28 September 2025 (MEE)

Published date: 19 November 2025 12:59 GMT | Last update: 4 hours 55 
mins ago

Police in England and Wales arrested more than 140 people on Tuesday, 
the first day of coordinated protests against the UK 
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/uk> government’s proscription 
of the direct action group Palestine Action.

No arrests were made at parallel events in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In each location, protesters staged sit-downs, holding signs that read, 
“I oppose genocide. I support Palestine.”

The group, Defend Our Juries (DOJ), which organised the protests, said 
an estimated 142 people were arrested on Tuesday, with more actions 
scheduled to take place this week ahead of the planned judicial review 
into the ban on Palestine Action on 24 November.

In Scotland, meanwhile, police made no arrests at a protest involving 49 
people standing outside the government's Queen Elizabeth House in 
Edinburgh. The Scottish Police Force declined to make arrests at four 
similar actions this year.

In May, Scotland's Counter-Terrorism Board said that Palestine Action 
"has not been close to meeting the statutory definition of terrorism". A 
legal challenge to the proscription is ongoing in the Scottish Courts.

While in Northern Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) 
did not arrest participants at a similar sign-holding protest in the 
city of Derry. A planned protest in Belfast on 22 November will be the 
first held in the city.

In England and Wales, the DOJ reported arrests at every protest site, 
including 27 in Nottingham, 25 in Leeds, 20 in Oxford, 17 in Gloucester, 
12 in Cardiff, 12 in Newcastle, nine in Northampton, and nine in Truro.

Local media in Truro reported that police withdrew after making eight 
arrests, citing limited capacity to detain the remaining participants. 
Devon and Cornwall had previously declined to arrest sign-holders at two 
earlier actions.


      Broad terrorism laws

Earlier this year, Yvette Cooper, then home secretary, banned Palestine 
Action and designated the group as a terrorist organisation after 
members broke into a military airbase.

The ban makes expressing support for, or membership of, the group a 
criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Following the designation, thousands have risked arrest under the 
Terrorism Act for holding signs reading, "I oppose genocide, I support 
Palestine Action."

Since the ban, the DOJ has reported that more than 2,000 people have 
been arrested under terror charges, while 170 face charges under Section 
13 of the Terrorism Act.

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Following previous actions, the South Wales Police raided the homes of 
several protesters after arresting them under Section 12 of the 
Terrorism Act.

The government's designation has faced renewed scrutiny after a panel, 
including a former MI6 director, warned that UK terrorism laws have 
become overly broad.

A separate advisory body said the ban risked inflaming tensions and 
raising the profile of the direct action group. Five UN experts also 
criticised the move as unjustified and "more associated with 
authoritarian states".

Tuesday's protests also coincided with the first day of the trial of six 
Palestine Action activists who broke into a weapons factory owned by 
Israeli arms company Elbit Systems.

London's Woolwich Crown Court heard that the six defendants broke into 
premises of owned by the arms firm in Filton, near Bristol, wearing red 
jumpsuits and carrying sledgehammers in the early hours of 6 August.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer told jurors that they crashed through the site’s 
fencing and broke into the factory in a prison van allegedly driven by 
Charlotte Head.

Video footage presented to the jury was said to show activists spraying 
red paint and using sledgehammers to damage machinery inside the facility.

The defendants were arrested on site and have been held on remand beyond 
the UK’s standard pre-trial custody time limit 
<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/759/part/14/crossheading/3/made#:~:text=(c)in%20the%20Crown%20Court,custody%20in%20the%20magistrates'%20court.&text=(b)that%20the%20prosecution%20has,all%20due%20diligence%20and%20expedition.%5D> 
for the Crown Court, which is 182 days.

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