London police have arrested at least 150 protesters during violent clashes at a rally calling on the United Kingdom’s government to lift a ban on the Palestine Action group.

Defend Our Juries, the campaign group that organised the rally on Saturday, said about 1,500 people participated in the demonstration outside the UK Parliament in London, risking arrest under terrorism laws.

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“Met police brutally attack protesters and throw them to the ground, whilst they mass arrest others for holding cardboard signs which say: ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action’,” Defend Our Juries posted on X along with a video depicting the clashes.

The Press Association, a UK news agency, reported that police drew their batons during the clashes, and one protester was seen with blood streaming down his face behind a barrier after being arrested.

The agency also reported that police had screaming arguments with demonstrators and had water and plastic bottles thrown at them while several protesters fell over in a crush at one point.

London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed that about 150 people had been arrested for a range of offences, including assaulting a police officer and expressing support for a proscribed organisation.

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“Officers policing the Defend Our Juries protest in Parliament Square have been subjected to an exceptional level of abuse including punches, kicks, spitting and objects being thrown, in addition to verbal abuse,” the Met said on X.

‘Chilling effect’

The protests are the latest in a series of rallies denouncing the UK government’s decision in July to ban Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000.

The ban came after members of the group broke into an air force base in southern England the previous month, causing an estimated 7 million pounds ($9.4m) of damage to two aircraft.

Membership in or support for the group, which is supported by prominent figures like bestselling Irish author Sally Rooney and Massive Attack singer-songwriter Robert Del Naja, is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Palestine Action has won approval from the High Court to challenge the ban, a ruling the government is seeking to overturn. The case is ongoing with a hearing scheduled on September 25.

Huda Ammori, Palestine Action’s cofounder, has condemned the government’s decision to ban it as “catastrophic” for civil liberties and said it would lead to a “much wider chilling effect on freedom of speech”.

Kerry Moscogiuri of the human rights campaign group Amnesty International UK said: “When the government is arresting people under terrorism laws for sitting peacefully in protest, something is going very wrong here in the UK.”

“Criminalising speech in this context is only permitted when it incites violence or advocates hatred. Expressing support for Palestine Action does not, in itself, meet this threshold.”

More than 700 people were arrested at earlier protests – including 532 at a London rally on August 9, which marked the largest mass arrest in the capital since the 1960s – and 138 have been charged under the Terrorism Act.

Mike Higgins, 62, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, returned to protest on Saturday after making headlines over his arrest on August 9.

“What choice do I have?” he told The Press Association. “Nothing is being done about the genocide other than by us .”

“And I’m a terrorist? That’s the joke of it.”