New wave of arrests against pro-Palestine activists despite High Court ruling in their favour

Martin Shipton

Veteran peace activist Angie Zelter from Wales is one of 16 people arrested by the Metropolitan Police in a controversial new crackdown on pro-Palestine demonstrators.

They were arrested while sitting outside New Scotland Yard in London holding signs reading “I OPPOSE GENOCIDE – I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION”.

The action is a continuation of Defend Our Juries’ “Lift The Ban” campaign against the UK Government’s proscription of direct action group Palestine Action. The proscription was found to be unlawful by the High Court in February.

Sunday’s arrests follow a dramatic U-turn by the Metropolitan Police, reversing their previously published policy that they would cease arrests in the light of the High Court ruling and “focus on gathering evidence” instead.

They had said this was “the most proportionate approach we can take” while awaiting an appeal from the government. Following two letters from Defend Our Juries seeking to clarify this position after a woman was arrested at London’s Al Quds Day event, the Met announced last week that it would resume arrests under terrorism legislation of those expressing support for Palestine Action.

The move came under fire, with leading law firm Hodge Jones & Allen arguing that any arrests would be unlawful. It is understood that those holding signs positioned themselves outside New Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police’s headquarters, to highlight the Met’s recent erratic behaviour. Activists said they do not feel safe with a police force that can just change its mind overnight, doesn’t listen to the High Court, and doesn’t seem to be held accountable for its actions.

Ms Zelter, 74, from Knucklas in Powys, the author of Activism for Life, said: “I am sitting once again opposing genocide and in support of the proscribed Palestine Action. The genocide in Gaza continues, the UK is involved in supporting this genocide and is now active in the illegal war against Iran. I sit as part of the Together March Against the Far Right. I abhor the toxic, racist, inhumane, dangerous rise of the far-right which drags us ever faster towards an authoritarian fascist state. I will continue to resist.”

Stefania Morosi, a 48-year-old mother and yoga teacher, said: “The courts and Israeli arms lobbyists can twist and play with the truth. I’m fed up with the abuses of power. Anyone who opposes genocide is a person of conscience. Any organisation which opposes the slaughter of children is against terrorism.

“The High Court decided that Palestine Action is not a terrorist organisation and yet the idiotic game of arresting people who support it is still on. I’m taking action as a woman and as a mother, I’m standing with the mothers of Palestine and protecting democracy in the UK.”

‘Highlight the horrors’

Polly, a retired care worker aged 75, said: “Age is only a number. Whatever our age, we should highlight the horrors happening in Palestine and the untruths the Israeli government is releasing. Many years ago – when I was younger and naive – I was pro-Israel, but that changed when in my late teens I was at college with two Palestinians who gave me first hand accounts of what was really happening in their home, and the way it was all covered up by the Israeli government. After that I began to question all statements released by Israel.

“Billionaires own our media. The truth has difficulty getting printed. We are called ‘terrorists’, but the true terrorist is our government. More than half the current cabinet received funding from Israel. We should ask ourselves why that is not made public.

“No one should be forced out of their homes, homes which they may have lived in for most of their lives, homes in which their children were born and grew up in, and forced to live away from their family and friends.

“The UK Government is very much involved in the destruction of Palestine. Starmer is behaving like Trump. Starmer and Lammy are introducing anti-protest laws that will affect us all.”

High Court Judges ruled on February 13 2026 that the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful because it interfered with the Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Assembly as per the European Convention of Human Rights. Additionally, the then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper did not follow her own policy. On February 25 the Home Office was given permission to appeal the judgment.

Suffragettes

Nearly 3,000 people have been arrested for holding signs as part of the Lift The Ban campaign so far, leading to a 1,114% increase in terrorism arrests across the year.

More women were arrested in 2025 under the Terrorism Act than the total number of arrests throughout the Suffragettes’ eight-year-long campaign in the early 2oth Century to secure voting rights for women..

The objective of this campaign is to Lift the Ban on Palestine Action, ie for Palestine Action to be de-proscribed as a “terrorist organisation”, and for the UK “to end its complicity in genocide”.