Police have made a number arrests at a protest in support of Palestine Action outside the Labour party conference centre in Liverpool.
A group of around fifty people sat on the grass outside ACC Liverpool holding handwritten placards reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.
Merseyside Police said officers “are in the process of making arrests on suspicion of wearing/carrying an article supporting a proscribed organisation.” Several were arrested by the Wheel of Liverpool, one of the city’s landmarks.
The government proscribed the group under the Terrorism Act in July, making membership of or support of the group a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Supporters clapped and cheered the arrestees, with some being carried off by multiple officers.
Defend Our Juries who organised the protest said: “Whilst the Labour party congregate at their annual conference, protestors are outside disobeying the unjust ban on Palestine Action.”
The group added supporters were risking arrest under the Terrorism Act, for “silently holding cardboard signs which say ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action’.”
It is calling for the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist group by the UK government to be scrapped.
A group of about two hundred protestors, waving the union jack and St George’s flags and carrying placards opposing the government’s digital ID plans, had to be separated from the pro-Palestinian demonstrators by police.
Earlier this month, the Home Office was given permission to challenge a ruling which allowed Palestine Action to appeal against its ban under terror legislation.
The group’s co-founder, Huda Ammori, was granted permission to appeal in July after her lawyers argued the ban breached the right to free speech.
Former home secretary Yvette Cooper has previously defended the proscription by saying some supporters of Palestine Action “don’t know the full nature” of the group.
Earlier this month, more than 425 people were arrested at a demonstration against the ban in Parliament Square in central London.
