LONDON – Nearly half of the 532 protesters arrested in London on Saturday over links to the banned group Palestine Action were aged over 60, police data has revealed.
The mass demonstration, organized in Parliament Square by Defend Our Juries, was held in opposition to the UK’s recent proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organization. Protesters carried signs reading: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
According to the Metropolitan Police, almost 100 of those detained were in their 70s, while 15 were aged 80 or older. All but 10 were arrested under Section 13 of the UK Terrorism Act, which criminalizes displaying support for a banned group.
High-profile figures among those arrested included Jonathon Porritt, 75, former adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Chris Romberg, 75, a retired British Army colonel. Both criticized the arrests as an attack on civil liberties.
Porritt described the ban as “overreach” aimed at silencing dissent over the situation in Gaza, while Romberg called it “a serious assault on our freedoms.”
Award-winning poet Alice Oswald, 58, also joined the protest, saying she was partly inspired by her work teaching poetry to young people in Gaza.
While protesters claimed some elderly attendees were left without water in hot weather, police said supplies and medical support were available, adding that demonstrators “knew they were very likely to be arrested.”
Since the Palestine Action ban in July, 10 people have been charged under the Terrorism Act.
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