Peaceful protesters arrested for supporting proscribed group

Martin Shipton

Three peaceful protesters were arrested in Presteigne, Powys, on Saturday for holding signs which read : ‘I Oppose Genocide, I Support Palestine Action’.

They are Angie Zelter, 74, a veteran peace and environmental campaigner from Knucklas, Mark Levene, 72, a genocide scholar from New Radnor, and Jasmine Grassie, also from Radnorshire.

Similar peaceful sit-down protests across the UK on the same day led to 169 arrests.

The arrests were the culmination of 12 days of peaceful protests organised by Defend Our Juries, timed to coincide with the Judicial Review in London’s High Court challenging the UK Government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. Altogether 641 people were arrested.

Palestine Action is the first direct action campaign group ever to be proscribed as a terrorist group in Britain. Its aim is to halt British complicity in the Israeli genocide in Gaza. International opinion now widely supports the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that since October 7 2023, the date of the Hamas attack on Israel, Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

The UK Government, despite its assertion that Israel’s actions there demonstrate a “clear risk of breaching international humanitarian law” nevertheless in July 2025 brought a vote before the Westminster Parliament banning Palestine Action, which argues that it is seeking to uphold precisely the same international legal principles.

Since then, the UK Government has doubled down on widespread peaceful protests against the ban, resulting in the arrest of more than 2,700 people under sections 12 or 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, again for simply holding signs in public saying : ‘I Oppose Genocide, I Support Palestine Action’.

Yet, as of October 9, when the Gaza ceasefire supposedly came into effect, Israel Defence Force killings of civilians in Gaza have continued unabated. Equally, there is no evidence that British-made weapon components, including those made in the Teledyne Labtech factory in Presteigne for the IDF, have been discontinued.

‘Shameful’

Mr Levene, who is himself Jewish, said: ‘I would like to commend the police officers who were responsible for our arrest and charging, on Saturday, for their exemplary behaviour and courtesy towards us. But this makes it all the more shameful that Dyfed-Powys constabulary are following the Home Office line when other police forces have chosen to use their discretion and not arrest protesters.

“Being arrested for holding up a non-inflammatory sign is Orwellian. It shows how draconian this government is prepared to be in the face of peaceful dissent. Not only is this an assault on a fundamental right to freedom of expression – as one might expect from authoritarian governments, like Russia or China but not Britain – it also flies in the face of international law. Amnesty International says these arrests are not just unlawful but, in themselves, acts of violence.”

Ms Zelter said, “Sitting here in Presteigne, where Teledyne’s factory is situated, feels the least I can do. Presteigne is implicated in the genocide as it is supplying components to the Israeli military. Israel has broken the current ceasefire numerous times, killing hundreds more people in Gaza while preventing aid from getting in to support the traumatised survivors. “The UK Government is complicit in this genocide and it is important that we speak out clearly as this is not being done in the names of the majority of the UK population.”

Ms Grassie said: “I feel powerless to change our government’s complicity in the destruction of Gaza and particularly the killing and maiming of innocent children. Joining others is the only way I feel I can add my voice to condemn the lengths Parliament will go to to suppress our opposition to what they are doing.