Seven charged in London after protest

25/6/2025 6:14

Seven people have been

charged on Tuesday following a protest in London in support of

Palestine Action, a campaign organisation the British government

has proposed to ban under anti-terrorism laws.



The ban, which was announced on Monday and will be laid

before parliament next week, would make it a criminal offence to

belong to the group after its activists damaged two UK military

planes in protest at London's support for Israel.



Palestine Action, which called the ban "an unhinged

reaction", on Monday was forced to change the location of a

planned protest to London's Trafalgar Square after police banned

it from staging a demonstration outside parliament.



The Metropolitan Police said although the protest began

peacefully, there were clashes between officers and people in

the crowd, with 13 arrests made. Of those, seven people have

been charged.



One was cautioned while the remainder were bailed or

released under investigation to allow further enquiries to take

place, the police said. Charges include assaulting emergency

workers and a racially aggravated offence.



Palestine Action has regularly targeted British sites

connected to Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems as well as other

companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the

conflict in Gaza in 2023.



In its latest and most high-profile action, two Palestine

Action members entered a Royal Air Force base in central England

on Friday.



The ban would put Palestine Action on a par with Hamas,

al-Qaeda or ISIS under British law. Condemning the ban, Amnesty

International UK said that "government embarrassment at security

breaches is no excuse for interfering with human rights".