Six charged in UK of terror-related offences after protests backing banned group Palestine Action

Six people in United Kingdom have been charged with terrorism-related offenses over their alleged involvement in protests and online meetings linked to the banned group Palestine Action, police said. Authorities say the charges stem from efforts to organise demonstrations backing Palestine Action in London, Manchester, and Cardiff, including one scheduled in the capital recently. Prosecutors also cited 13 Zoom meetings held between July and August that were allegedly in support of the outlawed group.

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Defend Our Juries, an activist network with ties to Palestine Action, confirmed the six individuals were part of its movement. The group denounced the arrests, vowing they would not prevent supporters from joining this weekend’s planned protest. Palestine Action, a UK-based campaign targeting defense companies that supply Israel, was officially outlawed in July. The move came a month after two of its members broke into Britain’s largest airbase and caused damage to two military aircraft. Its proscription makes membership or public support a criminal offense on par with backing organisations like Hamas, al-Qaeda, or ISIS.

The ban has drawn heavy criticism, including from the United Nations human rights chief. In July, a court allowed the group to challenge its proscription this November, with the judge acknowledging it was “reasonably arguable” that the ban breached rights to free speech, assembly, and association under the European Convention on Human Rights. However, the prohibition remains in place until the hearing. The six individuals, aged 26 to 62, were arrested on Tuesday by officers from the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command and formally charged a day later. They are being held in custody and are expected in court on Thursday. A seventh suspect was separately charged in Scotland on Tuesday in a related probe.

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Detective Chief Superintendent Helen Flanagan described the charges as the outcome of “a proactive investigation” into activity linked to Palestine Action. She stressed that since the group is legally classified as a terrorist organization, anyone promoting or aligning with it risks arrest and prosecution. According to the Metropolitan Police, over 700 people have been detained and 114 charged in connection with protests this summer, including more than 500 taken into custody during a single demonstration in August. Footage from that rally showed officers detaining elderly and disabled protesters, some of whom were carried away after being arrested for holding placards with slogans such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”