Scuffles broke out as police clashed with a small number of around 600 Palestine Activists who staged a protest opposing the Government’s move to proscribe the group as a terrorist organisation.
Officers attempted to detain several activists who were wearing black face coverings during Monday’s protest, which had been moved from its original location outside parliament to Trafalgar Square instead after the Metropolitan Police imposed an exclusion zone.
The Met later confirmed they made 13 arrests at the protest in support of Palestine Action.
Six people were arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker and two on suspicion of obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty, the Metropolitan Police said.
One person was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence after they were allegedly heard to shout racial abuse towards the protest.
When crowds remained in the area beyond Scotland Yard’s ordered 3pm end time, four people were arrested on suspicion of breaching Public Order Act conditions.
“While the protest initially began in a peaceful manner, officers faced violence when they went into the crowd to speak to three individuals whose behaviour was arousing suspicion,” a Met Police spokesperson said.
“This sequence of events repeated itself on multiple occasions, with officers being surrounded on each occasion they tried to deal with an incident.”
On Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed she had decided to proscribe Palestine Action under section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Palestine Activist calls for dismantling of the Zionist entity at demo
In a written statement Cooper said a draft proscription order will be laid in Parliament on Monday 30 June. If passed, it will make it illegal to be a member of, or invite support for, Palestine Action.
Cooper said the “disgraceful attack” on RAF Brize Norton in the early hours of the morning on Friday 20 June was the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by the group.
The statement noted attacks had also been made against a Jewish-owned business in North London, where the glass-front of the building was smashed and the building and floor defaced with red-paint including the slogan ‘drop Elbit’.
“Such incidents do not represent legitimate or peaceful protest,” added Cooper. “Regardless of whether this incident itself amounts to terrorism, such activity is clearly intimidatory and unacceptable.”
During Monday’s protest, Jewish News witnessed a series of incendiary speeches from key activists connected to the group, in which there were repeat calls for “intifada” and “resistance” along with regular chants of “From The River To The Sea Palestine Will Be Free.”
Tony Greenstein joins protest opposing banning of Palestine Action in Trafalgar Sq
With most of Trafalgar Square cordoned off, the protest was squeezed into one corner of the iconic location. Some protestors sat down on the road, joining in with the chant of “We are all Palestine Action.”
One middle aged female activist appeared at the demo dressed in a striped outfit made to look as though it was a concentration camp uniform.
But instead of a Yellow star she had stitched on a Muslim crescent, sun and stars symbol. She confirmed to Jewish News she was making a comparison between the Nazi holocaust and the war in Gaza.
Others in attendance included members of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and the Jewish Voice For Labour groups.
Notorious anti-Zionist Tony Greenstein was also among the crowds, telling Jewish News the government’s move to proscribe Palestine Action was “absolutely outrageous” and a “gross infringement of free speech.”
“We know what terrorism is, it’s Israel’s dropping bombs on marketplaces, and shooting down people queuing for food.”
Speaking at the protest, Palestine Action spokesperson Max Geller, who is Jewish himself, denied claims of foreign influence at the heart of the group.
“I can’t overstate how absurd and disappointing that accusation is,” he told the PA news agency.
“I want to make very clear that there has never been any evidence offered to support such a claim, and if we were allowed to be a legally recognised group, that man would be being sued right now for libel.”
Protestor holds giant watermelon symbol at Palestine Action demo
Meanwhile a young female activist, wearing a Palestinian Youth Movement T-shirt gave a lengthy speech through a loudspeaker in which she called for the dismantling of the “Zionist entity”.
She said it was the duty of the movement to resist both British imperialism and Zionism and continue “until Palestine is free.”The chant continued: “We will honour all our martyrs – all the fathers, mothers, daughters. We will free all our prisoners.”
In Arabic she then listed a number of Palestinian villages that she said would one day be freed from Israel’s control.
Another woman held aloft a giant Watermelon sign at the protest, which she said was “a symbol of Palestinian resistance because Israel ban’s the Palestinian flag.”
Asked by Jewish News about associations with Hamas and the October 7th massacre, the woman said “Who are you?”
Other woman began a loud chant of: “It’s our duty to resist, when you’re fighting to exist.”
She also shouted: “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”
Elsewhere a group of parents, many wearing Palestinian colours or symbols, brought their young children to the demo seating themselves on rugs, with coloured pens and drawing books for the youngsters.
The Home Secretary’s decision to proscribe the group comes after the group posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The clip shows one person riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine.
Mother of imprisoned Palestine Action activist speaks at Trafalgar Sq demo
Speaking on Sunday, the head of the Met, Sir Mark Rowley, said he was “shocked and frustrated” at the protest, but that until the group is proscribed the force had “no power in law” to prevent it taking place.
“The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest,” he added.
“Thousands of people attend protests of a different character every week without clashing with the law or with the police. The criminal charges faced by Palestine Action members, in contrast, represent a form of extremism that I believe the overwhelming majority of the public rejects.”
Palestine Action has staged a series of demonstrations in recent months, including spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint over its alleged links to Israeli defence company Elbit, and vandalising US President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.
