London police detained more than 360 individuals on Saturday, as numerous people deliberately defied a recent prohibition against backing a specific pro-Palestinian organization.
The UK Parliament enacted a ban on public endorsement of Palestine Action early last month, following an incident where group members trespassed onto a Royal Air Force base and damaged aircraft. The UK prohibition asserts that supporting this organization is equivalent to supporting terrorism, rendering it unlawful.
Demonstrators in London protesting against Israel this weekend contend that the ban unlawfully restricts freedom of speech. London Police apprehended at least 365 individuals before the protests concluded.
Over 500 protesters gathered in Parliament Square on Saturday, with many openly challenging police to arrest them by holding signs stating, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” This action prompted police intervention.
In a statement, the police force declared, “We are confident that anyone who appeared in Parliament Square today displaying a placard expressing support for Palestine Action has either been arrested or is currently being processed for arrest.”
Defend Our Juries, the protest’s organizer, stated its intention for the demonstration to illustrate the impracticality of implementing the new law.
In a statement, Defend Our Juries, the protest’s organizer, remarked, “The police have managed to arrest only a small portion of those allegedly committing ‘terrorism’ offenses, with most receiving street bail and being permitted to return home.” The statement continued, “This represents a significant embarrassment for (the government), further eroding the credibility of this widely derided law, enacted to penalize those revealing the government’s own misdeeds.”
This protest occurred merely a day after Israel’s security cabinet endorsed a strategy to occupy Gaza City, signaling an intensification in the ongoing conflict against Hamas.
The office indicated that five principles for ending the war were adopted via vote, comprising: the disarmament of Hamas, the return of all hostages (both living and deceased), the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, Israeli security oversight in the Gaza Strip, and the creation of an alternative civil administration distinct from both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated, “A substantial majority of Security Cabinet ministers held the view that the alternative plan presented to the Security Cabinet would neither accomplish the defeat of Hamas nor the recovery of the hostages.”
When questioned in an interview prior to the Security Cabinet meeting about whether Israel would “take control of all of Gaza,” Netanyahu responded: “Our intention is to do so, to ensure our security, eliminate Hamas there, and allow the population to be free from Gaza.”
‘ Bradford Betz and