London police arrest 139 outside US Embassy at Palestine Action protest days before Supreme Court appeal
London police arrested 139 people outside the US Embassy on Saturday after a protest in support of the banned group Palestine Action, days before the Supreme Court hears an appeal against the ban.
London police arrested 139 people outside the United States Embassy on Saturday during a protest in support of Palestine Action, a group banned in the United Kingdom under anti-terrorism law. The Metropolitan Police said most of those detained had expressed support for a proscribed organisation, and officers warned that further arrests were expected while they remained at the scene.
The demonstration took place in Nine Elms, in south-west London, where the US Embassy stands. It was organised by the campaign group Defend Our Juries, which estimated that about 400 people attended. Many protesters held placards reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”, and reporting from the Associated Press noted that many of those taking part were retirees.
Officers began detaining protesters one by one shortly after 12.30pm, according to Press Association reporting, sometimes carrying people away when they refused to walk. The Metropolitan Police said in an evening update that it had arrested 139 people, with the majority held on suspicion of expressing support for a proscribed organisation, and that arrests were continuing.
Police also put a Section 35 dispersal order in place across parts of central London, covering the embassy area, from 8am to 11pm on Saturday. Such an order gives officers powers to direct people to leave an area where disorder is anticipated, and the force said anyone organising or providing logistical support for the protest could also face arrest.
A parallel demonstration was held outside the US Consulate in Edinburgh, where protesters held a vigil in support of Palestine Action. No arrests were reported there on Saturday in the accounts of the London protest, although the Edinburgh action underlined that the campaign was not confined to the capital.
Palestine Action was proscribed by the British government in 2025, making membership of, or support for, the organisation a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The group, founded in 2020, campaigns to end British military support for Israel, which it accuses of committing genocide against the Palestinians, an accusation Israel strongly denies.
Defend Our Juries said Saturday’s arrests took the total number of people detained for defying the ban to more than 4,000 since July 2025. That figure is the campaign group’s own count rather than an official police total, but it illustrates the scale of the enforcement campaign that has followed proscription, with regular mass-arrest protests held in London and other cities.
The timing of Saturday’s protest was deliberate. The Supreme Court is due to hear an appeal on 4 November against Palestine Action’s designation as a terrorist group, with a two-day hearing expected. The High Court earlier ruled that the ban was disproportionate, but it remained in force while the government appealed, and the Court of Appeal subsequently upheld the proscription in June.
The case has drawn international attention as well. In August, the United States government announced sanctions against Palestine Action, designating it as a terrorist group, a move that campaigners and some politicians in Britain have cited as evidence of the political stakes around the ban.
What happens next will turn on the Supreme Court hearing. If the court upholds the ban, the current pattern of mass arrests at support protests is likely to continue; if it finds against the government, it could reshape how public-order policing treats expressions of support for a proscribed group. For now, the Metropolitan Police has made clear that further arrests remain possible at similar demonstrations, and campaigners show no sign of halting the protests that have brought the issue back into public view week after week.
