Arabic version: اعتقال أكثر من 50 شخصاً في احتجاج دعماً لـ«فلسطين أكشن» في ليفربول

According to Al Jazeera, police in the United Kingdom arrested more than 50 people protesting in support of the banned Palestine Action group outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. Merseyside Police confirmed the arrests in a statement published on Sunday.

The protest was organised by Defend Our Juries. Police said those arrested had displayed material supporting Palestine Action, which the Labour government proscribed as a “terrorist” group in July 2025 under the Terrorism Act. The force said it respected the right to lawful protest while seeking to keep the peace and protect public safety.

More than 250 protesters sat outside the conference centre on Sunday holding banners supporting the group before police began making arrests. Officers asked demonstrators whether they intended to continue holding the signs before leading people away and telling them they had been arrested under the Terrorism Act. Massive Attack singer Robert Del Naja was among those arrested.

Al Jazeera correspondent Milena Veselinovic reported from Liverpool that protesters wanted to place the proscription at the centre of UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s agenda on the first day of the annual party conference. One protester said being arrested was “nothing in comparison to what the people in Gaza are going through” and that the action concerned free speech.

Amnesty International UK chief executive Kerry Moscogiuri called the arrests “a truly shameful attack on freedom of speech”. Separately, activists confronted Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband at a Liverpool restaurant, demanding that he lift the ban and declare Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Since the group was outlawed, more than 3,600 people have been arrested for showing support, Al Jazeera reported. The UK Supreme Court is set to hear a case after the Court of Appeal upheld the ban in June.