Police have arrested 66 people, including an 83-year-old, on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action at a rally outside the Labour party conference in Liverpool.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the venue on Sunday, many holding signs that read: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”.
Palestine Action was banned as a terror organisation in July after the group claimed responsibility for a protest in which two planes were damaged at RAF Brize Norton the previous month.
Merseyside police said on Monday that 66 people were arrested near the Wheel of Liverpool, a city landmark.
Two were later de-arrested, police said, while 64 were held on suspicion of supporting a proscribed terror organisation and later bailed. They were aged between 21 and 83.
The arrests bring to almost 1,700 the number of people arrested for allegedly expressing support for Palestine Action since the ban came into force on 5 July, of whom about 138 have been charged. The offence is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The group Defend Our Juries, which organised the Liverpool rally, said protesters were “disobeying the unjust ban on Palestine Action” and called for the prohibition to be scrapped.
It posted footage showing four uniformed police officers carrying away a demonstrator in a wheelchair.
Other video showed an elderly man being arrested while holding a cardboard sign reading “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”. Asked by an officer at least twice if he was willing to stop displaying the sign, the man silently shook his head. He was applauded by fellow protesters as he was taken into custody.
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.”