UK police arrest 83-year-old priest over support for Palestine Action at anti-genocide protest

UK police carried out the arrest of an 83-year-old priest for holding a sign that had a slogan on it supporting Palestine Action and opposing the war on Gaza, in a widely circulated video.

The video shows Reverend Sue Parfitt being directed away by police officers, who arrested over 25 others.

The sign the reverend was holding reads: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."

The arrest came just hours after the UK government designated the organisation, which is known for its direct action targeting arms factories, a terrorist organisation.

Parfitt was with dozens of others who gathered on Saturday to protest the proscription.

Scores of people immediately denounced the UK police’s arrest of the elderly woman and demanded the activists be released.

The reverend’s friend, Jerry Hicks, said: "She is against genocide & that’s not a crime," urging for her to be released.

Joining the group, supporting their actions, or praising or displaying them on social media now carries a penalty of up to 14 years in prison.

The proscription of the group came after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the group would be banned, after they caused damage to two Voyager aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on 20 June. British police claimed that the damage totalled around £7 million. The New Arab could not independently verify this claim.

Online, many people voiced their support for the reverend, while criticising the UK government and police for silencing any criticism of the war on Gaza.

Journalist and activist Owen Jones wrote: "According to Starmer’s new law, this puts her in the same category as an ISIS or Al-Qaeda terrorist, with a prison sentence of up to 14 years".

"We are not living in a rational civilised democratic society. How is this 83-year-old priest be considered a ‘terrorist’ for supporting Palestine Action? This is like something out a Kafesque nightmare," one person commented on X.

The latest developments come as the war on Gaza rages on, with over 61,700 Palestinians killed since October 2023. The Israeli army has blocked emergency aid from coming into the Strip while aid seekers have also been systematically targeted next to aid distribution sites.

The war has been labelled a genocide by leading rights group Amnesty International.