Britain's ban on Palestine Action and the mass arrests of its supporters
Overview · reviewed November 5, 2026
In July 2025 Britain banned the pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action under its anti-terrorism laws, after members broke into a military base and vandalized two planes.[1]Police then arrested hundreds of people for showing support for the group, including 890 at a single London protest in September.[2][3] In February 2026 the High Court ruled that the ban was disproportionate,[4] and in August the Trump administration designated the group a terrorist organization.[5] Britain's top court heard an appeal over the ban in November, as police arrested more protesters.[6][7]
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Police then arrested hundreds of people for showing support for the group, including 890 at a single London protest in September.[2][3] In February 2026 the High Court ruled that the ban was disproportionate,[4] and in August the Trump administration designated the group a terrorist organization.[5] Britain's top court heard an appeal over the ban in November, as police arrested more protesters.[6][7]
Coverage over time
Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)
13%0%
Jun 20252026this week
LeftCenterRightLighter bar: this week so far
Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 5 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.
Weekly counts, outlets and reports (9 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)
Left
Center
Right
Of tracked
Share
Receipts
Nov 2, 2026
2
3
1
6 of 471
1%
Oct 26, 2026
1
4
2
7 of 473
1%
Aug 24, 2026
3
1
5
9 of 466
2%
Feb 9, 2026
7
9
1
17 of 180
9%
Sep 29, 2025
1
7
2
10 of 202
5%
Sep 1, 2025
3
2
1
6 of 177
3%
Aug 4, 2025
5
17
3
25 of 194
13%
Jul 7, 2025
0
2
1
3 of 191
2%
Jun 23, 2025
0
0
3
3 of 137
2%
Latest coverage
The newest reporting in this story's record.
Nov 3, 2026 · first reported · Headline from WTOP Washington DC
Police made dozens of arrests at protests on successive Saturdays after the ban took effect,[2] including more than 50 outside in August.[8] Of the 890 arrested in September, 857 were held under anti-terror laws,[3] and the Home Office moved to give police greater powers to curb repeated protests.[9] A three-judge High Court panel found that the ban interfered with free speech,[4] and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced sanctions on the group.[5] Police said they arrested 325 people at a London protest outside the US Embassy on October 31, ahead of the appeal, which the top court heard on November 4.[7][6]
