UK’s Met police says 55 individuals have been arrested in Parliament Sq. for displaying placards in assist of the group.
Protests are happening throughout the UK calling for the ban on Palestine Motion to be reversed, amid police warnings that these displaying assist for the proscribed activist group face arrest.
Demonstrations have been happening on Saturday in Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Truro and London as a part of a marketing campaign coordinated by Defend Our Juries, which has already seen dozens arrested.
London’s Metropolitan police stated 55 individuals have been arrested Saturday in Parliament Sq. for displaying placards in assist of the group.
The Met police stated 70 individuals have been arrested at related demonstrations in Parliament Sq. over the previous two weekends, whereas Defend Our Juries stated a complete of 120 had to date been arrested throughout the UK.
It comes forward of a Excessive Courtroom listening to on Monday by which the cofounder of Palestine Motion, Huda Ammori, will ask for the inexperienced mild to problem the house secretary’s choice to ban the group under “anti-terror” laws.
The ban implies that membership of, or assist for, the direct action group is now a felony offence punishable by as much as 14 years in jail, underneath the Terrorism Act 2000, placing the group on a par with armed teams resembling al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
Authorities have beefed up police presence in Westminster within the wake of the rallies.
A counterprotest by the pro-Israeli Cease the Hate group may even happen in London on Saturday.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan stated these expressing assist for Palestine Motion “will seemingly be committing an offence and can very seemingly be arrested”.
5 individuals appeared in court docket on Saturday over a Palestine Motion protest at an Israeli-linked defence agency’s web site.
Members of the organisation, allegedly armed with sledgehammers and whips, are accused of breaking into the Elbit Programs web site close to Patchway, Bristol, within the early hours of August 6, 2024, “counter-terrorism” police stated.
Greater than 2 million kilos of injury ($2.68 million) was induced, and cops and a safety guard have been assaulted, the Westminster Magistrates’ Courtroom heard.
Prosecutors declare the alleged offences had a “terrorist connection”. The 5 concerned have been charged with aggravated housebreaking, felony injury and violent dysfunction.
Palestine Motion describes itself as “a pro-Palestinian organisation which disrupts the arms business in the UK with direct motion”.
Since its founding in July 2020, it has carried out a whole lot of protests throughout the UK aimed toward disrupting the operations of corporations they accuse of making the most of Israeli army operations, with a specific deal with the Israeli arms producer, Elbit Programs.
The group’s ways sometimes contain breaking into amenities, chaining themselves to equipment, daubing buildings with purple paint and destroying gear.
The UK has seen a whole lot of hundreds of individuals peacefully protest on a near-weekly foundation, calling for an finish to Israel’s genocidal warfare in Gaza within the final 22 months.