Met vows to arrest ‘logistical’ helpers at Palestine Action protest

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Organisers Defend Our Juries (DOJ) condemned the force’s “significant escalation,” suggesting “de-escalators, press liaison and those providing water to keep people hydrated and safe” will face arrest under terror laws.

The “reckless and irresponsible” move will put the “safety of elderly and disabled people at risk,” it added.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said: “This is a deeply worrying escalation from the Met Police and suggests they feel even more emboldened under Andy Burnham than they did under Keir Starmer.

“The right to peaceful protest is now at serious risk of disappearing in the UK unless the government acts immediately.”

DOJ has announced plans for protesters to hold up signs reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”

It said the US had “not shied away” from participation in the Palestine conflict and its latest demonstration comes ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on the Home Office proscription on the group in June 2025.

In June, five Court of Appeal judges said the ban on Palestine Action as a terror group was a “justified and proportionate” interference on freedom of expression rights.

This overturned a High Court ruling in February that the then-home secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to ban Palestine Action was unlawful, after a legal challenge from the group’s co-founder Huda Ammori.

In August, the US government designated Palestine Action a terror group.

Yesterday Met Commander Adam Slonecki said: “I want to be clear — it is not just those who hold up placards who should expect to be arrested.

“Anyone officers consider to be playing a key role in organising the event, giving instructions to others and/or providing logistical support will very likely be committing an offence and face enforcement action.”

Today four Palestine Action activists were spared jail for causing £212,805 criminal to a Barclays bank over its link to Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems.

The group admitted at Preston Crown Court smashing windows with hammers and hurling paint at a Burnley branch in a 2am operation in August 2024.

Judge Robert Altham said the “otherwise perfectly law-abiding people” have accepted that protests should remain within the law.