More than 60 arrested over Palestine Action protest outside Labour Party conference

Police have arrested 66 people on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action during a protest outside the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.

Around 100 people gathered in the city centre at around 2.30pm on Sunday holding signs which read: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action,” organisers Defend Our Juries said.

Merseyside Police said two people were later de-arrested. The 64 people who were arrested on suspicion of the terrorism offence were aged between 21 and 83 years old. They were taken into police custody and have now been released on bail.

Palestine Action was proscribed as a “terror organisation” in July after the group claimed responsibility for the damage to two Voyager planes at RAF Brize Norton.

The group has since tried to appeal this ban, and the Home Office has subsequently challenged this. Palestine Action is awaiting judgment about whether it would be allowed to appeal its case in the High Court.

During the protest, Keith Hackett, 71, said: “I’m risking arrest today under terrorism legislation because, as a former Labour councillor in Liverpool, I am deeply ashamed of how Labour are acting.

“They need to recognise that direct action has been a fundamental part of the gains that have been in the labour movement.”

Tayo Aluko, 63, an actor, writer and singer from Liverpool, said: “This government, like all authoritarian regimes in modern times, wants to plant fear in the citizens so that it can continue to let their friends and paymasters get away with genocide.”

Israel denies that any genocide is taking place during its conflict with Hamas in Gaza, but a two-year UN investigation recently concluded Israel had “flagrantly disregarded” international law and “orchestrated a genocidal campaign for almost two years now”.

Amnesty International said it deployed observers to monitor the demonstration, who said it was carried out “entirely peacefully” and yet protesters were being “hauled from the streets by police – a scene which just a few months ago would have been shocking but is quickly becoming the norm”.

A spokesperson for the human rights charity said: “This is absolutely not a normal situation, and we cannot let it become so. This is a serious violation of our right to protest, happening in front of our eyes right here in the UK. These arrests should not be happening. It’s clearly both ridiculous and seriously disproportionate for police to be targeting and arresting people for sitting down, quietly holding a sign.

“There are serious human rights concerns around not only the proscription of Palestine Action, but also the chilling consequences this decision has had. People are being silenced and peaceful protesters are being pulled from our streets into police vans. The UK’s overly broad terrorism laws are being misused to suppress free speech.”

A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said: “Instead of shutting down protest, it’s time the Labour Party took the responsibility to prevent genocide seriously and impose blanket sanctions on Israel including stopping the flow of arms from factories in this country.”

The protests by Defend Our Juries are expected to continue in London on 4 October.