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Alsharq Tribune- Zainab Hussin
At least 425 people were arrested at a tense protest in support of the banned terror group Palestine Action, as clashes broke out in Parliament Square.
Violent scuffles took place at the central London demonstration as police drew their batons and officers sprinted out from behind the cordon to grab people before pulling them away.
Tensions rose in Westminster as an estimated 1,500 people gathered for the rally – with the protest taking on an increasingly anti-police tone featuring chants of “shame on you”, “you’re supporting genocide” and some referencing former officer and murderer Wayne Couzens.
The Met Police confirmed that as of 9pm on Saturday, more than 425 people were arrested at the Westminster Palestine Action protest. Scotland Yard added that more than 25 people were arrested for assaults on police officers and other public order offences.
Defend Our Juries, who organised the protest, said protesters going floppy during arrest had significantly slowed down the rate of arrests.
They insisted the demonstration was a “huge embarrassment” for Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley, “who claimed the Met would arrest every person who held a sign saying ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action’.” At one point, one protester was seen with blood streaming down his face behind a barrier after being arrested.
Tensions rose in Westminster as an estimated 1,500 people gathered for the rally – with the protest taking on an increasingly anti-police tone featuring chants of “shame on you”, “you’re supporting genocide” and some referencing former officer and murderer Wayne Couzens.
The Met Police confirmed that as of 9pm on Saturday, more than 425 people were arrested at the Westminster Palestine Action protest.
Scotland Yard added that more than 25 people were arrested for assaults on police officers and other public order offences. Defend Our Juries, who organised the protest, said protesters going floppy during arrest had significantly slowed down the rate of arrests.
They insisted the demonstration was a “huge embarrassment” for Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley, “who claimed the Met would arrest every person who held a sign saying ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action’.” At one point, one protester was seen with blood streaming down his face behind a barrier after being arrested.
Hundreds of people were risking arrest at the protest as they showed support for Palestine Action, which has been banned by the Government as a terrorist organisation.
Many of the protesters appeared to be elderly, and at another stage footage showed five police officers escorting a woman with a walking stick slowly away as protesters clapped.
The number of arrests began to slowly pick up throughout Saturday, with police beginning to detain people just 12 minutes after the protest’s official start time.
Crowds of activists followed officers, shouting “shame on you” as protesters were carried away from Parliament Square.
Scotland Yard said its officers had to deal with punches, kicks, spitting and objects thrown at them during the protest.
In a statement, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Claire Smart, who led the policing operation said: “Over the course of the afternoon, we deployed more than 2,500 officers to manage protests across the capital.
The majority of protests, including the Palestine Coalition march attended by around 20,000 people, passed with very few arrests. This was not the case at the protest organised by Defend Our Juries in support of the proscribed terrorist organisation Palestine Action.
“In carrying out their duties today, our officers have been punched, kicked, spat on and had objects thrown at them by protesters.
It is intolerable that those whose job it is to enforce the law and keep people safe – in this case arresting individuals committing offences under the Terrorism Act – should be subject to this level of abuse.
“Our role in the context of protest remains as it always has been – to police without fear or favour, to enforce the law, and to ensure those exercising their right to protest can do so safely.
Where a group advertises that they intend to commit crimes, we have a duty to respond accordingly. “The tactics deployed by supporters of Palestine Action in their attempt to overwhelm the justice system, as well as the level of violence seen in the crowd, required significant resource which took officers out of neighbourhoods to the detriment of the Londoners who rely on them.”
There were frantic scenes in Westminster throughout the afternoon, as officers forced their way through crowds carrying arrested protesters, had screaming arguments with demonstrators and had water and plastic bottles thrown at them – while several protesters fell over in a crush at one point.
Many protesters had made it difficult for officers to escort them away by making their bodies go floppy, forcing the police to drag them away.
Among those arrested was 83-year-old Reverend Sue Parfitt. Following her second arrest for sign-holding under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, she insisted that Palestine Action is not a terrorist organisation.
She said: “I am an Anglican Priest and Jesus is my leader. Clearly, we are witnessing a genocide and the deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people who have been persecuted by Israel for generations, long before the Nakba in 1948, with the help of this country.
“The truth is that Palestine Action is not a terrorist organisation. “It caused much damage confined to the weapons that are being used on the Palestinians. “All of us with any moral backbone at all must stand up against this.
Gandhi said non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good. “And a very good way to do this is to come out onto the streets with our signs saying ‘I support Palestine Action’.”
Despite the violence, which occurred particularly on neighbouring streets, Parliament Square Green remained largely peaceful. Several hundred protesters, many of them elderly, spent the day on the grass, with signs reading “I support Palestine Action”.
Among those at the demonstration was 84-year-old Fran, who told the Standard: “I’d prefer not to be arrested but if I were to be, it’d be a badge of honour.”
Elsewhere in the square, dozens of doctors in their scrubs – with badges pinned to them identifying their roles including: doctor, surgeon and physio – unfurled a banner reading: “Medical duty & terror law”, while families of Holocaust survivors held a sign which said: “Holocaust survivor descendants against genocide”.
Kerry Moscogiuri, of human rights campaign group Amnesty International UK, said: “When the Government is arresting people under terrorism laws for sitting peacefully in protest, something is going very wrong here in the UK.
“Criminalising speech in this context is only permitted when it incites violence or advocates hatred. Expressing support for Palestine Action does not, in itself, meet this threshold.”
Mike Higgins, 62, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, returned to protest on Saturday after making headlines last month as one of 532 people arrested at a previous demonstration.
He told the PA news agency: “What choice do I have?
“Nothing is being done about the genocide other than by us. “And I’m a terrorist? That’s the joke of it.
“I’ve already been arrested under the Terrorism Act and I suspect I will be today.
“Of course I’ll keep coming back – what choice do I have?”
