UK’s Met police says 55 folks have been arrested in Parliament Sq. for displaying placards in help of the group.
Protests are going down throughout the UK calling for the ban on Palestine Motion to be reversed, amid police warnings that these displaying help for the proscribed activist group face arrest.
Demonstrations have been going down on Saturday in Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Truro and London as a part of a marketing campaign coordinated by Defend Our Juries, which has already seen dozens arrested.
London’s Metropolitan police mentioned 55 folks have been arrested Saturday in Parliament Sq. for displaying placards in help of the group.
The Met police mentioned 70 folks have been arrested at comparable demonstrations in Parliament Sq. over the previous two weekends, whereas Defend Our Juries mentioned a complete of 120 had to date been arrested throughout the UK.
It comes forward of a Excessive Court docket listening to on Monday by which the cofounder of Palestine Motion, Huda Ammori, will ask for the inexperienced gentle to problem the house secretary’s resolution to ban the group beneath “anti-terror” legal guidelines.
The ban implies that membership of, or help for, the direct motion group is now a felony offence punishable by as much as 14 years in jail, beneath the Terrorism Act 2000, placing the group on a par with armed teams reminiscent of al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
Authorities have beefed up police presence in Westminster within the wake of the rallies.
A counterprotest by the pro-Israeli Cease the Hate group will even happen in London on Saturday.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan mentioned these expressing help for Palestine Motion “will doubtless be committing an offence and can very doubtless be arrested”.
5 folks appeared in court docket on Saturday over a Palestine Motion protest at an Israeli-linked defence agency’s website.
Members of the organisation, allegedly armed with sledgehammers and whips, are accused of breaking into the Elbit Methods website close to Patchway, Bristol, within the early hours of August 6, 2024, “counter-terrorism” police mentioned.
Greater than 2 million kilos of injury ($2.68 million) was induced, and law enforcement officials and a safety guard have been assaulted, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court docket heard.
Prosecutors declare the alleged offences had a “terrorist connection”. The 5 concerned have been charged with aggravated housebreaking, felony injury and violent dysfunction.
Palestine Motion describes itself as “a pro-Palestinian organisation which disrupts the arms business in the UK with direct motion”.
Since its founding in July 2020, it has carried out tons of of protests throughout the UK aimed toward disrupting the operations of corporations they accuse of cashing in on Israeli navy operations, with a specific deal with the Israeli arms producer, Elbit Methods.
The group’s techniques usually contain breaking into amenities, chaining themselves to equipment, daubing buildings with crimson paint and destroying gear.
The UK has seen tons of of 1000’s of individuals peacefully protest on a near-weekly foundation, calling for an finish to Israel’s genocidal struggle in Gaza within the final 22 months.