48 Arrested in London Protests Against Palestine Action Ban

London’s Metropolitan Police locked up at least 48 individuals on Saturday. They did this after hundreds defied warnings to stay away from a rally. The crowd gathered outside the United States embassy to protest the ban on Palestine Action. This group is currently classified as a terrorist organization under UK law.

The ban took effect last July under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government. Now, the Supreme Court will hear an appeal against that proscription this Wednesday. Tensions ran high before the hearing. Officers continued making arrests well into the afternoon.

"We have arrested 48 people so far," the Met Police stated on X. Most arrests stemmed from expressing support for a banned group. Officers remained on scene, continuing their work.

Labour MP John McDonnell pushed back on the police stance. He posted on X that protesting a government decision does not automatically mean someone supports the target group. He argued this cannot be interpreted as committing an arrestable offense. McDonnell went further. He believes the government made a wrong call in labeling Palestine Action a terrorist outfit.

This was the first mass protest against the ban since Andy Burnham took office as Prime Minister in July. The designation has sparked outrage across parts of British society. Critics see it as part of a broader crackdown aimed at silencing pro-Palestine voices. Palestine Action now sits on the same banned list as al-Qaeda and ISIL.

The unrest wasn't limited to the capital. Protesters also rallied outside the US consulate in Edinburgh. No arrests were reported in the Scottish capital. In both cities, demonstrators held placards with a stark message. They read: "I oppose genocide.

More than 4,000 people have been detained since July 2025 for defying the ban on Palestine Action. That is the figure cited by Defend Our Juries, the group behind Saturday’s protests. The milestone was reached outside the US embassy on Halloween.

The organization’s spokesperson called the crackdown "truly dystopian." Over 4,000 arrests under terror laws for peaceful vigils silently expressing opposition to genocide and support for the protest group Palestine Action. That is the reality on the ground, as reported by UK news agency Press Association.

The proscription, the spokesperson argued, was straight out of US President Donald Trump’s playbook. It is fitting, they noted, that this significant milestone has been reached on Halloween and outside the US embassy. The ban is about the UK government appeasing Trump and the Israeli weapons companies that Palestine Action disrupted. It has nothing to do with any kind of terrorist threat.

Felix Jakens, head of communications and campaigns at Amnesty International UK, echoed the call for the government to reverse the proscription. The sight of grandparents, teenagers and everyone in between being hauled into police vans for peacefully holding placards is a disgraceful attack on freedom of speech, he said.

It is past time, Jakens insisted, for the government to drop the proscription of Palestine Action. Our laws need reform so communities have more power to demonstrate on the issues they care about. Not less.