Mass arrests in London for opposing genocide

Over 500 peaceful protestors held up placards in Parliament Square in support of Palestine Action, with 200 arrested by late afternoon.

A sea of opposition in Parliament Square to the Starmer government’s proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, which has led to over 200 arrests in the last month. (Photo: Andy Worthington).

Over 500 people took part in a mass arrestable protest in Parliament Square in London today, having pledged to hold up signs reading, "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action", which, according to the legislation passed by Parliament on July 5, is an act of terrorism that potentially carries a 14-year prison sentence.

The actions of Palestine Action — aimed almost exclusively at disrupting the manufacture of weapons by the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems, and its subsidiaries — are part of a long tradition of campaigners taking direct action against companies involved in war and genocide. Their actions may amount to criminal damage, but they are definitively not terrorism.

As Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights Chief, stated when the proscription became law, "According to international standards, terrorist acts should be confined to criminal acts intended to cause death or serious injury or to the taking of hostages, for purpose of intimidating a population or to compel a government to take a certain action or not." The proscription, he added, "misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism to expand it beyond those clear boundaries, to encompass further conduct that is already criminal under the law."

Former Guantanamo prisoner Moazzam Begg prior to his arrest at the mass protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square on August 9, 2025. (Photo: Andy Worthington).

Today, as the police began arresting the campaigners, one by one, and carrying them off to police vans — with those arrested including former Guantanamo prisoner Moazzam Begg, NHS workers, Quakers and a blind wheelchair user — I was surprised by quite how enraging it was to see the police dutifully obeying a law that should never have been passed, and which is currently the subject of a judicial review. I joined in the cries of "Shame!" and "Shame on you!", delivered loudly and often at very close range to the police officers taking part in the arrests, and I also found myself shouting, "What happened to policing by consent?", "'Just following orders' is no excuse", "Stop working for Israel", and "Arrest Yvette Cooper."

Cooper, the home secretary, who introduced the legislation proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, has received significant donations from pro-Israeli donors, as have most prominent members of Keir Starmer’s Cabinet, including Starmer himself. As a result, I believe a case can be made that they are engaged in treason, working for a foreign government, and not in the interests of the UK.

As of 3.40pm, the Metropolitan Police stated that they had made 200 arrests "with more to follow", adding that, "After arrest, they were taken to Prisoner Processing Points in the Westminster area", where "Those whose details could be confirmed were bailed, with conditions not to attend any further protest in support of Palestine Action." The Met added, "Those whose details were refused, or could not be verified, were taken to custody suites across London."

One of the more than 200 arrests made by police at the mass protest in support of Palestine Action in London on August 9, 2025. (Photo: Andy Worthington).

At the time of writing, Defend Our Juries, the main group organizing the mass protests, have stated on X that "Up to 200 protestors [are] STILL in Parliament Square", and that "The police are struggling to arrest everyone, as there are too many of us!"

For my article about Palestine Action when the proscription first took place, see Why We Are All Palestine Action, and Why Direct Action to Prevent Genocide Is the Opposite of Terrorism.

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