London’s Parliament Square became the epicenter of a fierce debate over protest, policing, and civil liberties on September 6, 2025, as nearly 900 people were arrested during a demonstration against the government’s ban on the activist group Palestine Action. The mass detentions, carried out under the Terrorism Act, have ignited a national and international conversation about the boundaries of dissent, the use of anti-terror laws, and the future of protest in Britain.
According to the BBC and other major outlets, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that 890 individuals were detained at Saturday’s protest, with 857 arrested on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organization—Palestine Action—while another 33 faced charges ranging from assaulting officers to other public order offenses. The protest, organized by the campaign group Defend Our Juries, drew approximately 1,500 participants, many of whom sat outside Parliament holding placards that read, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
The government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action in July 2025 followed a high-profile incident in which activists broke into a Royal Air Force base, vandalizing two Voyager refueling and transport planes with red paint and damaging them further with crowbars. Officials said the group’s actions, which have included targeting defense companies and infrastructure since its founding in 2020, have caused millions of pounds in damage and posed a threat to national security. Under the new designation, membership of or public support for Palestine Action is now punishable by up to 14 years in prison—a move the government says is necessary to curb what it describes as violent, disruptive direct action.
But Saturday’s protest and the government’s crackdown have become a lightning rod for critics who see the ban as an attack on basic freedoms. Defend Our Juries, the event’s organizer, insisted that the demonstration was peaceful and that the police response was unnecessarily aggressive. In a statement cited by Al Jazeera, the group said, “Among the 857 arrestees were vicars and priests, war veterans and descendants of Holocaust survivors, retired teachers and healthcare workers.” They accused the police of “making many false claims and attempts to smear the protesters” and said, “We’re nonviolent, how about you?”
Amnesty International UK, which deployed independent observers to monitor the protest, echoed these concerns. The rights group described the rally as “entirely peaceful” and denounced what it called “a shocking demonstration of how the UK’s overly broad terrorism laws are being used to suppress free speech.” Amnesty’s observers reported seeing officers “violently shoving people away and pulling out batons to make space whilst protesters were arrested and hauled into police vans.” Video footage and photographs from the scene showed scuffles between police and demonstrators, with some protesters reportedly thrown to the ground and one man bleeding from his face after being arrested.
However, the Metropolitan Police maintained that their response was justified by what they described as “coordinated” violence from a section of the crowd. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Claire Smart stated, “In carrying out their duties today, our officers have been punched, kicked, spat on and had objects thrown at them by protesters.” She called the abuse directed at police “intolerable” and argued that while many thousands of people protest peacefully in London each week, “You can express your support for a cause without committing an offence under the Terrorism Act or descending into violence and disorder.” According to the Met, 17 officers were assaulted during the operation, and some protesters threw water and plastic bottles at police.
The government’s position has been resolute. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who visited the Metropolitan Police control room during the operation, publicly supported the arrests, stating, “Supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist group are not the same thing.” The Home Office said Mahmood “backed officers for arresting those who support the proscribed terrorist group Palestine Action.” Former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who oversaw the ban, argued that “the assessments are very clear, this is not a nonviolent organization.” Defence Secretary John Healey told Sky News he expected Mahmood would be “just as tough” on supporters of the banned group.
Yet the crackdown has drawn sharp criticism from international observers and rights advocates. Volker Türk, the United Nations human rights chief, warned that the UK’s new law “misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism,” and cautioned that “acts of protest that damage property, but are not intended to kill or injure people, should not be treated as terrorism.” Türk added, “The decision to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist group raises serious concerns that counterterrorism laws are being applied to conduct that is not terrorist in nature, and risks hindering the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms across the UK.”
The legal battle over Palestine Action’s status is far from over. The group’s co-founder, Huda Ammori, has launched proceedings to challenge the ban, arguing that it unlawfully criminalizes political dissent and curtails free speech. In July, the High Court granted permission for the challenge to proceed, a decision the Home Office is now seeking to overturn. A hearing is scheduled for September 25, 2025, and the outcome could have far-reaching implications for protest rights in Britain.
Meanwhile, Defend Our Juries has vowed to continue demonstrating until the ban is lifted, dismissing police claims of violence as “frankly laughable.” The group insists that the government’s approach is “a preposterous waste of resources” and “impossible to enforce.” Protesters like Mike Higgins, a 62-year-old blind man who uses a wheelchair and has already been arrested under the Terrorism Act, remain undeterred. “And I’m a terrorist? That’s the joke of it,” he told AP News. “Of course I’ll keep coming back. What choice do I have?”
The controversy has also attracted the support of prominent public figures. Irish author Sally Rooney, for example, has pledged to use proceeds from her work “to keep backing Palestine Action and direct action against genocide.” The wider context is one of escalating tension over Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which some academics, rights groups, and UN experts have described as genocide—a characterization Israel vehemently rejects, emphasizing its founding as a refuge after the Holocaust.
Saturday’s protest was not an isolated event. Police estimate that about 20,000 people attended a separate pro-Palestinian march in London the same day. Rallies were also held in Belfast and Edinburgh, where police reported arrests related to terrorism and hate crimes. Across the UK, the debate over Palestine Action’s ban has become a proxy for broader questions about the limits of protest and the reach of counterterrorism laws.
The government has stressed that proscribing Palestine Action does not affect the right of other groups—whether pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel—to campaign or protest peacefully. But as the legal and political battles continue, the events of September 6 have left many wondering just where Britain now draws the line between legitimate dissent and criminal activity. The answer, it seems, will be shaped as much in the courts as on the streets.
