London’s Metropolitan Police announced on Sunday that it had arrested 890 individuals during a protest backing the proscribed group Palestine Action on Saturday, AFP reports.
Of those detained, 857 were held under anti-terror legislation for supporting a banned organization, while 33 others were arrested for various offences, including 17 for assaulting police officers.
The demonstration, organized by the campaign group Defend Our Juries (DOJ), drew approximately 1,500 participants outside Parliament. The Met described the abuse suffered by officers as “intolerable,” contrasting the event with a separate Palestine Coalition march that drew 20,000 attendees and remained peaceful.
The UK government designated Palestine Action a terrorist organization in July.
Palestine Action, known for its acts of vandalism and disruptive protests, was officially proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000 after an incident at a Royal Air Force base, where activists from the group breached the base and defaced two aircraft with red paint, resulting in an estimated £7 million in damages.
Founded in 2020, Palestine Action describes itself as a “direct action” network opposing what it calls British “complicity” with Israel, particularly in relation to arms sales.
The group also previously defaced a painting of Lord Balfour at Trinity College Cambridge, spraying the portrait with red paint and slashing it.
In another incident, Palestine Action members stole two busts of Israel’s first President, Chaim Weizmann, from a glass cabinet at Manchester University.