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UK Grants Police New Powers to Crush Peaceful Protests as Palestine Action Demonstrations Continue
"Just because you have freedom doesn’t mean you have to use it at every moment of every day," said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood after hundreds of peaceful demonstrators were arrested.
Oct 06, 2025
After the British government's ban on the group Palestine Action earlier this year failed to silence demonstrations against the genocide in Gaza, the UK's Home Office announced Sunday that it would give police sweeping new powers to crush peaceful protests.
Police arrested nearly 500 more pro-Palestine demonstrators on Saturday—including many Jewish activists—who participated in a protest calling for the government to "Lift the Ban" on the protest group Palestine Action, which was outlawed under Britain's anti-terrorism law in July.
Those arrested included an 83-year-old Anglican priest, the 79-year-old daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and a 79-year-old Jewish man with terminal illness, among hundreds of others who held signs in opposition to the ban as part of a "silent vigil."
That ban was instituted after members of Palestine Action were accused of vandalizing planes at a military base and has been widely criticized, including by former members of the Labour government that passed it. Even the UK’s Joint Terrorism Analysis Center acknowledged in a leaked March report revealed last month by the New York Times that the vast majority of the protest group's actions “would not be classified as terrorism.”
Prior to Saturday, more than 2,000 people had already been arrested since the ban went into effect for voicing support for the outlawed organization. Despite this, the demonstrations have continued, and the Home Office, which handles matters of public safety, announced Sunday that more drastic measures would be taken.
It said police forces would be given new powers under the UK's existing policing law, the Public Order Act, to put new conditions on "repeat protests" and allow senior police authorities to relocate or "to ban protests outright" based on their "cumulative impact."
"The right to protest is a fundamental freedom in our country. However, this freedom must be balanced with the freedom of their neighbours to live their lives without fear," said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. "Large, repeated protests can leave sections of our country, particularly religious communities, feeling unsafe, intimidated, and scared to leave their homes. This has been particularly evident in relation to the considerable fear within the Jewish community, which has been expressed to me on many occasions in these recent difficult days."
In the wake of the deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue last week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had called on the group Defend Our Juries (DOJ) to call off Saturday's demonstration in order to "respect the grief of British Jews this week.”
But DOJ organizers said in a statement Friday that "many Jewish supporters of Defend Our Juries have warned that postponing tomorrow’s action would risk conflating the actions of the state of Israel with Jewish people around the world, as [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu seeks to do, who bear no responsibility for Israel’s crimes, which could fuel antisemitic hatred and prejudice."
Other leading Jewish figures in Britain have denounced the UK's criminalization of Palestine Action. In August, more than 300 of them, including Jenny Manson, chairperson of Jewish Voice for Labour, signed a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper denouncing the ban as “illegitimate and unethical.”
According to a poll by YouGov in July, 37% of British people said that in the Israel-Palestine conflict, they sympathized more with the Palestinians, while just 15% said they sympathized more with the Israelis. Others said they sympathized with both equally or were unsure.
In a widely circulated BBC News interview on Sunday, Mahmood defended the Home Office's new restrictions on the basis that it was distasteful for DOJ to protest against Israel at a time when Jewish people were in mourning and that police should have the ability to intervene in such protests.
"I don't think it's offensive to ask people to show a little humanity towards a community that's suffered a terrible tragedy. That's the first loss of Jewish life, simply for being Jewish, on British soil in centuries," she said. "Just because you have a freedom doesn’t mean you have to use it at every moment of every day."
DOJ responded in a post on X: "This is what the home secretary thinks of democracy. Your freedoms are only freedoms within a specific timeframe, a designated location, and only if permitted to be used by Shabana Mahmood. We are fighting for all our freedoms. We will not be deterred." The group has said it will only continue to escalate its protests and called for more demonstrations in November.
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Declassified Report Belies UK 'Terrorism' Designation for Palestine Action
The report acknowledges that "the majority" of Palestine Action's activities "would not be classified as terrorism" under the highly contentious Terrorism Act of 2000.
Sep 12, 2025
A declassified British intelligence report published Friday by The New York Times undermined the UK government's claims and rationale for banning the direct action group Palestine Action under the country's dubious anti-terrorism law.
Speaking earlier this week, UK State Security Minister Dan Jarvis defended the government's terror designation for Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act of 2000, accusing the group and its supporters of an "escalating campaign involving intimidation and sustained criminal damage, including to Britain's national security infrastructure."
The report was published by the Times as former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock condemned the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's stance on Palestine Action, telling Middle East Eye that "simply, I can't see how belonging to or demonstrating for a group that is rightly extremely concerned about the appalling situation in Gaza is terrorism."
Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock says Palestine Action are not terrorists in split with StarmerMost high-profile divide so far: Kinnock tells @MiddleEastEye people have a right to be appalled at situation in Gaza and proscription 'blunting' terror lawswww.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusi...
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— Defend Our Juries (@defendourjuries.bsky.social) September 12, 2025 at 8:31 AM
But the leaked report, issued March 7 by the UK's Joint Terrorism Analysis Center (JTAC) and first reported by journalist Craig Murray in August, acknowledges that "the majority" of activities by Palestine Action "would not be classified as terrorism" under the law because they typically involve relatively "minor" property damage, such as "graffiti, petty vandalism, occupation, and lock-ons."
The group's actions include damaging property belonging to weapons makers such as the Israeli firm Elbit Systems, spray-painting warplanes at a British military base, and defacing US President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland—acts experts say do not constitute terrorism.
"UK domestic counterterrorism legislation defines terrorist acts broadly to include 'serious damage to property.' But, according to international standards, terrorist acts should be confined to criminal acts intended to cause death or serious injury or to the taking of hostages, for purpose of intimidating a population or to compel a government to take a certain action or not," United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk said in July.
Türk added that the UK legislation "misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism to expand it beyond those clear boundaries, to encompass further conduct that is already criminal under the law."
Still, JTAC asserted that Palestine Action "commits or participates in acts of terrorism" under the law by perpetrating "incidents that have resulted in serious property damage with the aim of progressing its political cause."
The report accuses Palestine Action members of "using weapons, including sledgehammers, axes, and whips, to cause a significant amount of property damage" in one action, during which "two responding police officers and a security guard were assaulted and suffered injuries."
However, JTAC noted that it is "highly unlikely" that Palestine Action would ever "advocate for violence against persons."
"Any such call for action would constitute a significant escalation" of Palestine Action's "strategy and intent," the report states.
At least 138 people have been charged with terrorism offenses under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act, which bans displays of symbols or wearing clothing that "arouse reasonable suspicion that [a person] is a member or supporter of a proscribed organization."
The Terrorism Act has long been condemned by civil liberties defenders, who decry the law's "vague and overbroad" definition of terrorism, chilling effect on free speech and expression, invasive stop-and-search powers, pre-charge detention and control orders, sweeping surveillance and data collection, and other provisions.
More than 1,600 people have been arrested during demonstrations of support for Palestine Action—mostly organized by the group Defend Our Juries—since the group's proscription, including nearly 900 attendees of a September 6 rally in London's Parliament Square.
Many of those arrested did nothing more than hold up signs reading: "I Oppose Genocide. I Support Palestine Action."
Arrestees include many elders, including 83-year-old Rev. Sue Parfitt, who argued that "we cannot be bystanders" in the face of Israel's US-backed genocide in Gaza, which has left more than 237,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, hundreds of thousands more starving by design, and around 1 million others under the threat of imminent ethnic cleansing as Israeli forces move to conquer and occupy the coastal strip.
"I know that we are in the right place doing the right thing," said Parfitt, who was arrested at a July 6 Defend Our Juries protest in Parliament Square against the terror designation for Palestine Action.
Last week, two Metropolitan Police officers speaking under condition of anonymity said they felt guilty and ashamed of having to arrest peaceful Palestine Action supporters.
“Instead of catching real criminals and terrorists," one of the officers told Novara Media, "we are arresting pensioners and disabled people calling for the saving of children’s lives."
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'No Red Carpet' for Israel's Herzog: UK Urged to Arrest 'Genocide President' in London
"The only reason to welcome this man into our country," said one critic, "is to immediately facilitate his transfer to The Hague to be tried for war crimes."
Sep 10, 2025
Thousands of people turned out in London Tuesday to call for the arrest of visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog—who is the subject of criminal complaints alleging incitement to genocide and crimes against humanity—and to denounce UK complicity in the annihilation of Gaza.
Demonstrators rallied outside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office in central London, where they waved Palestinian flags and chanted messages including, "Keir Starmer, you can't hide, we charge you with genocide!" and, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!"
"Herzog's presence here is an insult to every Palestinian who has lost their home, their family, their life," said Amina, a 34-year-old protester holding a sign that read, "Stop the Genocide in Gaza."
"Starmer must act now—arrest Herzog and show the world that the UK stands against war crimes," she added.
Zarah Sultana—a member of Parliament (MP) who recently quit Starmer's Labour Party and joined with fellow former Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn and others to launch the Independent Alliance—told protesters that Herzog has "dehumanized an entire population and openly called for their extermination."
"This Labour government is complicit, is enabling genocide," she added.
Later on Tuesday, protesters gathered outside the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel, where Herzog was reportedly staying, calling him the "genocide president" and chanting, "Free Palestine!" and "No justice, no peace!"
While not targeted by the International Criminal Court—which last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza—Herzog is the subject of criminal complaints filed in Switzerland last year by the advocacy group Legal Action Against Genocide "for incitement to genocide and crimes against humanity."
Days after the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023 that left more than 1,100 Israelis and others dead—at least some of whom were killed by so-called "friendly fire" and under the intentionally fratricidal Hannibal Directive—and around 250 people kidnapped, Herzog suggested that every Palestinian man, woman, and child in Gaza was a legitimate target.
"It is an entire nation out there that is responsible," Herzog told reporters on October 13, 2023. "It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It's absolutely not true. They could have risen up. They could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza."
That same month, Ezra Yachin—a 95-year-old veteran of the Zionist terror militia Stern Gang who allegedly took part in the 1948 massacre of more than 100 Palestinian civilians at Deir Yassin—delivered a motivational speech to troops about to invade Gaza, urging them to "wipe out [Palestinians'] memory, their families, mothers, and children."
Herzog hailed Yachin's speech as "a wonderful example to generations of soldiers."
When the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—which is currently weighing a genocide case against Israel filed by South Africa—issued its January 2024 order for Israel to avoid genocidal acts in Gaza, Herzog's October 13, 2023 comments were listed second in a series of "dehumanizing" statements by Israeli officials who were possibly inciting genocide.
Tuesday's protests against Herzog followed a demonstration earlier in the day outside the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair at Excel London at Royal Victoria Dock, where thousands of people rallied against UK complicity in Israel's genocidal war and famine.
Israel's 705-day onslaught has left at least 237,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans are starving due to Israel's "complete siege" and engineered famine, and around 1 million Palestinians are facing ethnic cleansing under a US-backed plan to conquer, occupy, and resettle Gaza.
UK leaders have come under fire for cracking down on anti-genocide protests, including by banning the group Palestine Action and arresting hundreds of people who have publicly voiced support for the organization.
Condemnation of Herzog's visit was not limited to the streets of London. In the House of Commons, Scottish National Party Leader Stephen Flynn told fellow parliamentarians that "Gaza is a graveyard."
"Gaza is a graveyard...What does it say of this Prime Minister that he will harbour this man whilst children starve?"SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn criticises the PM's decision to host Israel's president later today. #PMQs
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— Holyrood (@holyroodmag.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 5:34 AM
"But rather than end arms sales, extend sanctions, and stand by international law, the prime minister will today welcome into his home.. the man who called for the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, and who signed the artillery shells that destroyed their homes, their families, and their friends," Flynn said.
"What does it say of this prime minister that we will harbor this man while children starve?" Flynn asked.
Zack Polanski, a member of the London Assembly and leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said Tuesday in a statement that "welcoming a potential war criminal to the UK is another demonstration of how this Labour government is implicated in the ongoing genocide in Gaza."
"A refusal to detain Herzog can be seen as a contravention of the Geneva Convention, which makes clear that states have legal responsibility for preventing the targeting of civilians," Polanski added. "When this is breached, individuals must be prosecuted, and this should be applied to Herzog."
Critical media also decried Herzog's visit, with the pro-independence Scottish newspaper The National on Wednesday running the front-page headline, "Starmer Rolls Out Red Carpet for Genocide."
Tomorrow's front page 📰Starmer rolls out red carpet for genocide
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— The National (@scotnational.bsky.social) September 9, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Writing for Middle East Eye, British author, political commentator, and Labour politician Ali Milani noted Wednesday that "Starmer has... described the actions of Herzog's government as 'appalling, counterproductive, and intolerable.'"
"To say one thing in Parliament about Israel's actions, and then to roll out the red carpet for Herzog, would not only endorse the impunity granted to Tel Aviv over Israeli crimes in Gaza; it would also shred the credibility of Labour's foreign policy," he argued.
"There should be no red carpet. There should be no ministerial meetings. Instead, there should be accountability," Milani added. "The only reason to welcome this man into our country is to immediately facilitate his transfer to The Hague to be tried for war crimes."
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