In London, the Metropolitan Police arrested 212 people at a Trafalgar Square demonstration opposing the UK government’s ban on the pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action. The protest was the first major gathering since a High Court ruling in February declared the ban — which designated the group as a terrorist organization — unlawful.
The ban was initially imposed last July under anti-terrorism legislation after some Palestine Action members broke into a Royal Air Force base. UK Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood has since been granted permission to appeal the High Court’s ruling. Demonstrators at Saturday’s protest carried placards and waved Palestinian flags, with many wearing the traditional black-and-white keffiyeh. The mass arrest underscores the growing friction between civil liberties advocates and the government’s counterterrorism posture in the wake of the Gaza conflict.
