The Metropolitan Police has warned of mass arrests if a planned protest in support of Palestine Action goes ahead this weekend.
The force said it would have “the resources and processes in place to respond” to the planned gathering on Saturday, which is expected to see hundreds of people turn out in support of the banned group.
It added that the protest intended to place “a strain on the police and the wider criminal justice system”.
“Our officers will continue to apply the law in relation to Palestine Action as we have done since its proscription,” a spokesperson for the Met Police said.
“Anyone showing support for the group can expect to be arrested.”
However the campaign group behind the planned action has denied that its protest will try to overwhelm the police and justice system.
A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries told the PA news agency: “It is wrong to characterise this (planned demonstration) as a plan to overwhelm the police and court systems.
“If we are allowed to protest peacefully and freely, then that is no bother to anyone.
“Our groups and movements are coming together like never before, finding unity under repression,” it added.
In a further statement on its website, the campaign group said the Government had “overreached itself” by banning Palestine Action and it was “vital” that its campaign succeeded.
Defend Our Juries said it planned to bring together at least 500 people for its planned demonstration against the ban on Saturday, which is believed to be held in London, with organisers “very confident” they have recruited enough participants, a spokesperson for the campaign group said.
The Guardian also reported that 300 left-leaning Jewish figures including author Michael Rosen will say the ban was “illegitimate and unethical” in a letter to Sir Keir Starmer.
A formal announcement will be made on Tuesday as to whether that figure has been reached and the demonstration will go ahead.
More than 200 people were arrested at a wave of protests across the UK in response to the proscription last month, as part of the campaign co-ordinated by Defend Our Juries.
Many of the protesters were detained after writing and holding up the message “I oppose genocide I support Palestine Action” on placards or pieces of cardboard.
Those interested in joining the demonstration have been asked to come to briefing calls on Tuesday or Thursday, while some have had non-violence training arranged for them, Defend Our Juries said.
The move to ban Palestine Action came after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on 20 June, an incident it subsequently claimed, which police said caused about £7m worth of damage.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe the group three days later, saying that the vandalism of the planes was “disgraceful” and the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage”.
A High Court ruling last week decided that Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori had several “reasonably arguable” beliefs in her challenge over the group’s ban that would be heard at a three-day hearing in November, but a bid to pause the ban temporarily was refused.
The ban means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, under the Terrorism Act 2000.
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