UK terrorism arrests of Palestinian supporters surge over 600%.
Official UK government figures released today (Thursday, 17 December 2025) show that 1,630 arrests, equivalent to 86% of the total 1,886 people arrested on terrorism-related charges in the year to September 2025, were in connection with the group known as Action for Palestine. This is compared to only 248 terrorism-related arrests recorded in the entire previous year, and thus, the number of arrests has increased more than sixfold after the intensification of the crackdown on the group.
According to the report, in the three months after Action for Palestine was placed on the list of terrorist organizations, from July to September 2025, a total of 1,706 arrests were recorded, which represents a jump of about 2,608% compared to 63 arrests in the previous quarter. Of these, 1,630 were arrested directly for supporting the group, and 256 were charged under other terrorism laws, an increase of around 3% on the previous year.
The group Action for Palestine, which organises “direct action” campaigns against arms companies accused of collaborating with the Israeli regime, was added to the list of organisations subject to terrorism law in the UK on 5 July. Under the law, membership or support for the group can result in up to 14 years in prison, and even wearing clothing or carrying a placard bearing the group’s name can result in a sentence of up to six months in prison.
One of the group’s founders has reportedly filed a lawsuit at the High Court in London against the Home Office’s decision to declare Action for Palestine a terrorist organisation. The parties are awaiting the court’s final ruling after the Court of Appeal rejected the UK government’s attempt to block the process and even added two other legal grounds to the grounds of appeal.
The published data shows that of the 1,886 arrests recorded in the past year, only 319, or 17 percent, resulted in indictments, 243 of which were related to “Action for Palestine” cases. This is compared to around 47 percent of arrests related to terrorism laws in the previous year, which indicates that a significant proportion of the new arrests are more about creating an atmosphere of intimidation than effective judicial prosecution.
As the figures were released, British police arrested four people on charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing the enforcement of the law on Wednesday evening after a rally of Palestinian supporters in front of the Ministry of Justice in Westminster. The action came hours after the London and Manchester police chiefs issued a joint statement, citing recent attacks in Sydney and Manchester, claiming that the targeted use of the slogan “intifada” in anti-Zionist rallies could be an example of incitement to violence, and warned that they would crack down on slogans and placards supporting the intifada.
These developments come as restrictions on anti-Israeli movements in Britain have been significantly tightened following the recent war in Gaza. Police arrested nearly 500 people at one of the pro-Palestinian gatherings under terrorism laws, a move that drew sharp criticism from civil society and human rights groups.
Observers believe that combining these statistics with the recent police crackdown on pro-intifada slogans paints a worrying picture of the expanding use of terrorism laws to curb pro-Palestinian protests in the UK. While the British government and police justify this approach with claims of maintaining security and combating extremism, activists and human rights organizations say that turning political slogans and civil actions into terrorism cases contradicts the claim of championing human rights and freedom of expression in the West and could lead to the normalization of the suppression of peaceful protests and increased discrimination against Palestinian supporters.