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UK police arrest 325 London protesters ahead of Palestine Action ban hearing
British police arrested 325 people during a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in London against the ban on Palestine Action. Those detained included 94-year-old Jewish human rights lawyer Margaret Owen, as the UK Supreme Court prepares to hear a challenge to the ban this week.
Britain’s Metropolitan Police arrested 325 people during a protest held outside the U.S. Embassy in Nine Elms, southwest London, on Saturday, October 31, against the British government’s decision to ban the pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action and designate it as a terrorist organization.
Police said 320 of those arrested were detained on suspicion of expressing support for a proscribed organization under terrorism legislation. Among them was 94-year-old British Jewish human rights lawyer Margaret Owen, according to Defend Our Juries, the campaign that organized the protest.
Footage published by Türkiye’s TRT Haber channel shows Metropolitan Police officers escorting an elderly female protester wearing a pink jacket toward police vehicles.
“I oppose genocide”
The protesters, whose number was estimated at around 400 by the campaign, held signs reading, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” The campaign said it chose the U.S. Embassy as the protest venue to highlight the U.S. role in Israel’s war on Gaza. Police had imposed an order requiring gatherings to disperse, covering the area around the embassy from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. A similar protest was held the same day outside the U.S. Consulate in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and Police Scotland confirmed that no one was arrested.
Owen, who was born in 1932 to a Jewish family, studied law at the University of Cambridge and received the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2013 for her work defending women’s rights, particularly those of widows. She was also arrested on September 27 during a similar protest outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, where she said she was “proud” to join the ranks of those arrested.
The case before the Supreme Court
The British government banned Palestine Action in July 2025 after activists from the group broke into the Royal Air Force base at Brize Norton and sprayed red paint on two military aircraft. Since then, belonging to or expressing support for the group has been a criminal offense punishable under the Terrorism Act 2000. The campaign says the number of people arrested for challenging the ban has exceeded 4,000.
London’s High Court ruled in February 2026 that the ban was disproportionate, but the Court of Appeal overturned that ruling in June and upheld the ban. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will hear the appeal on November 4 and 5, filed by Huda Ammori, one of the group’s founders. The Jewish Bloc, an alliance comprising Jewish groups that support Palestinian rights, was permitted to intervene in the case in support of the appeal. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood continues to defend the ban.
Photo: Defend Our Juries, video: TRT Haber
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