London police clash with activists, arrest over 400 demonstrating for outlawed Palestine Action

London police on Saturday arrested more than 400 activists demonstrating in support of the outlawed anti-Israel Palestine Action group. In total, some 1,500 activists demonstrated in the British capital with signs stating "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action." The event was organized by a group called Defend Our Juries. 

One of the individuals present at the Saturday protest was Mike Higgins, a 62-year old blind wheelchair user who has reportedly been arrested for similar protests in the past. 

“And I’m a terrorist? That’s the joke of it,” he stated, arguing that he has the right to peaceful protest against the British government. However, some of the activists were reportedly physically and verbally violent and the police described the treatment of its officers as “intolerable.”

The United Kingdom decided in June to outlaw the Palestine Action group after members of the radical group attacked and damaged British military aircraft at the RAF Brize Norton airbase. 

"The UK's defense enterprise is vital to the nation's national security and this government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk," The British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stated at the time, adding that the group had also attacked "financial firms, charities, universities and government buildings."

Cooper noted that "its activity has increased in frequency and severity" following the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis in 2023. 

She then added that the Palestine Action group would consequently be outlawed as a terrorist group. 

"Its activities meet the threshold set out in the statutory tests established under the Terrorism Act 2000," she said. 

In July, British authorities arrested 86 Palestine Action activists in cities across the country, of which 41 were in London. 

"Officers have made 41 arrests for showing support for a proscribed organization. One person has been arrested for common assault," London's Metropolitan Police said at the time in an official statement.

Some critics have claimed that the ban on the group constitutes an assault on free speech. However, these critics have refrained from mentioning that radical anti-Israel groups have systematically tried to intimidate and silence anyone who does not share their radical agenda and worldview. 

The Palestine Action activists have justified their violence by claiming that the United Kingdom is cooperating with the State of Israel against the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza. However, the claim is not supported by the facts on the ground. The current British government has been a vocal critic of the Jewish state and its self-defense against the Hamas aggression. 

The British government announced in May that it would freeze trade talks with Israel due to London’s opposition to Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

In July, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that London intends to unilaterally recognize a “Palestinian state” at the upcoming United Nations summit later in September. Other Western countries like France, Canada, Australia and Belgium have also announced that they intend to recognize “Palestine” as a de facto state. 

Israel and the U.S. have criticized these unilateral diplomatic recognitions as a major reward for Hamas terrorism and the Oct. 7 atrocities.