UK Police arrest 474 at Palestine Action solidarity protest in London's Parliament Square

British police arrested at least 474 people in London's Parliament Square on Saturday during a rally protesting the terrorist designation of Palestine Action.

The rally, organised by Defend our Juries (DoJ), saw hundreds of people unveil handwritten signs with the message "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action".

The protest is about both Israel's war on Gaza, which is increasingly being recognised as a genocide, and the government's decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group last month.

Under the Terrorism Act of 2000, membership or support for the group is now a criminal offence and can be punished by up to 14 years in prison.

The designation followed an incident in which members of the group broke into RAF Base Brize Norton and sprayed red paint on two aircraft.

In a post on X, DOJ said that there were "approximately a thousand protesters sat in Parliament Square with signs which read 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action'."

"In a collective act of resistance, people are risking their liberty for our civil liberties and for the Palestinian people."

A spokesperson for the group later said: "The fact that unprecedented numbers came out today risking arrest and possible imprisonment shows how repulsed and ashamed people are about our government's ongoing complicity in a livestreamed genocide, and the lengths people are prepared to go to defend this country's ancient liberties."

The group also said that the size of the protest is a "major embarrassment" to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, and that another wave of action would occur in September.

"I am here today because I am against the genocide in Gaza and against criminalising protests against genocide," one participant told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

"Our government should be ashamed of itself, and we will stand here until the genocide ends and until our government stops being complicit in it."

London's Met Police said in a statement at the time on X that 200 people had been arrested at the protest, and claimed around 500 to 600 people — including media and people without placards — were in the square.

"We are confident that anyone who came to Parliament Square today to hold a placard expressing support for Palestine Action was either arrested or is in the process of being arrested."

Among those arrested was ex-Guantanamo detainee and Senior Director at Cage International, Moazzam Begg, according Cage and DoJ, which posted videos of his arrest on X.

Cage International said: "They [Met Police] arrested Moazzam Begg, but they can not silence the truth he speaks. A lifetime of standing with the oppressed has forged his resolve in. Today is no different. His voice remains unshaken."

MP John McDonnell, who made his way to Parliament Square after participating in an adjacent protest for Palestine in London, said in a post on X that "it's a disgrace that people are being arrested for upholding our democratic rights".

The other protest, organised by a coalition of groups led by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), saw people march to Downing Street to protest Israel's war on Gaza and the deliberate starvation of the enclave's population, which has killed 212 Palestinians.

According to the PSC, "hundreds of thousands" took part in the demonstrations, which saw speeches from Palestinian Journalist Ahmed Alnaouq and Irish actress Denise Gough.

The protest comes as Israel is set to expand its war on Gaza, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approving a complete occupation of the enclave and a new offensive on Gaza City.

Israel has killed 61,369 Palestinians and wounded at least 152,800 since October 2023, according to Gaza's health ministry.