More than 200 demonstrators were arrested Saturday in central London during a rally in support of "Palestine Action," a group designated as a terrorist organization in the UK last month, London police said.
Protesters gathered in Parliament Square holding placards reading "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action" and waving Palestinian flags, despite prior police warnings. Organizers said an "unprecedented number" of people risked arrest to "defend the country's ancient freedoms."
Protesters chanted "Shame" at police as arrests began. "Let them arrest all of us. This government has gone too far. I have nothing to be ashamed of," one demonstrator said.
Craig Bell, a 39-year-old psychologist, told AFP that the ban on the group was "absolutely ridiculous." Comparing the organization to "a real terrorist group that kills civilians and takes lives," he said, "it's just a joke that they classify them as a terrorist group."
The organization was banned in Britain last month after its activists broke into the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire on June 20, vandalizing two refueling aircraft by spraying red paint on their engines and striking them with metal bars. The damage was estimated at £7 million ($9 million). Activists claimed the planes were used to support Britain's military assistance for Israel's operation in Gaza.
Under the ban, supporting or belonging to the organization is now a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison. This week, three people in England and Wales and seven in Scotland were charged for supporting the organization.
