“Two were arrested for obstruction. A third arrest was made earlier for a racially aggravated public order offence.”
The demonstration followed a high-profile break-in last week at RAF Brize Norton by two members of Palestine Action.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described Palestine Action as an “extremist criminal group”, and the Prime Minister labelled the Brize Norton raid “disgraceful”.
The group has also targeted British businesses it claims are linked to the Israeli arms industry. Last month, it claimed responsibility for attacking a Jewish-owned business in Stamford Hill.
Among the hundreds of protesters were many who had covered their faces (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]
But who supports Palestine Action – and who are its members?
At the protest, the JC approached many demonstrators, but none admitted to being part of the group. One woman who declined to identify herself wore a Palestine Action T-shirt but would neither confirm nor deny her membership.
She was, however, unequivocal in her support of Palestine Action: “Absolutely one hundred per cent, all the actions of Palestine Action... including the targeting of the RAF airbase. Nobody was hurt, nobody was killed, all they did was stop an aeroplane from flying over f***ing Gaza.”
Asked whether her support would continue even if someone had died as a direct result of Palestine Action, she replied that it would.
One female protester - who would not say if she was a member of the group - said she would support Palestine Action even if someone died as a direct action of their methods (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]
Another woman, who gave ‘K’ as her initial and her age as 66, said she was “admiring of the energy” of Palestine Action but had not taken part in any of its direct actions.
“I am so disgusted at this government’s treatment of valid protest, of non-violent protest,” she said. “To equate what Pal Action are doing with terrorism is bonkers.” She dismissed the damage to British military aircraft as merely “spray”, and insisted existing laws could address any criminal offences.
Many protesters held signs claiming "We are all Palestine Action" (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]
“This is about preventing genocide and massacres of thousands of people. We are penalising the people who are directly trying to stop that,” she claimed.
She added that her views would be the same even if the aircraft had been used for humanitarian purposes: “I don’t think they would have targeted them if they were being used for other reasons. These are clearly being used for violence, for mass violence.”
K said it was "bonkers" to call the actions of Palestine Action "terrorism" (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]
Nearby, one protester wore striped pyjamas like those worn by the victims of the Holocaust and carried a sign that read, “we are all Palestine Action”.
Another protester carried a poster that appeared to reference the "First they came..." poem which warned about the Nazi persecution of different groups during the Shoah.
A different protester, Alex, 61, carried a placard reading “Defend Palestine Action by any means necessary.” He described the Brize Norton break-in as “a wonderful action”.
Alex said Palestine Action "lighten" him and give him "hope" (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]
“I believe in justice by any means necessary,” he said. “Palestine Action has taken real action to stop support for genocide by this government.
“Our movement has to support Palestine Action because they are taking the lead... their action lightens me, it gives me hope,” he added. “There has to be a fight everywhere. Palestine Action is an inspiration and has to be defended.”
Alex turned his anger towards the Labour government: “Our enemy is here – it is Starmer and that government. They are attacking our right to protest; they’re attacking poor people and refugees and asylum seekers... The whole movement has to come out and defend Palestine Action now.”
Several protesters vented fury with the government.
[Missing Credit]
Another woman, also giving the initial K, aged 27, carried a sign calling for the arrest of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy. “They’re arming a war criminal,” she said, referring to Israel. “They are supporting a state that is butchering men, women and children by the thousands and starving them to death. The terrorists are those supporting a war criminal – not Palestine Action.”
Rebecca, 39, who had travelled from Hungerford in Berkshire, said she was “disgusted” by the government and claimed that Palestine Action was “non-violent”.
“I feel absolutely sick to my stomach. We all voted for change, but this isn’t the change we wanted,” she said. “The last Labour government brought us the Iraq war, and now we’re going into Iran as well. It feels like a continuation of the same narrative that we’re all sick of.”
She added that she did not need to go to work and so could attend the demonstration in the middle of the working week.
Several children were brought to the large protest on Monday lunchtime (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]
Roger, 65, said supporting Palestine Action was “more important than ever... given the genocide going on in Gaza.”
He called the government’s move to proscribe the group “complete madness”. Asked if he supported a total arms embargo on Israel, he said: “Who in their right mind wouldn’t, a country that just bombs and attacks all its neighbours and takes over their territory.”
Joe said Palestine Action had "at most" taken part in "criminal damage - it's not terrorism" (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]
Nearby, Joe, 45, wore a distinctive frog hat – the same style of head covering that Greta Thunberg had worn aboard the so-called “Freedom Flotilla” to Gaza. He said the Swedish climate activist was “one of” his inspirations and added that he had also protested in support of the Irish rap group Kneecap.
Another protester appeared to echo the "first they came..." Holocaust poem (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]
One man in his mid-twenties spoke to the JC after being arrested and released by the Met.
“I got arrested for no apparent reason, they claimed I had articles to cause criminal damage on me. They destroyed my wrists with handcuffs and then they released me because I didn’t have anything,” he said.
One protester who was arrested and then released said he was "scared" when the police handcuffed him (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]
Activist and journalist for Iranian state TV, Latifa Abouchakra, also attended the demonstration. Abouchakra, who was photographed removing yellow hostage ribbons from railings in Swiss Cottage last month, said on X that the protest was an event “rallying around Palestine Action dismantling the Zio-Israhelli war machine.”
The government is expected to bring proscription against Palestine Action before Parliament. If passed, membership of or support for the group could become a criminal offence.
There were dozens of police at the scene (Photo: J Prinsley)[Missing Credit]