AT LEAST 90 protesters were arrested for holding signs at the peace garden in London’s Tavistock Square on Saturday, bringing the total to 279 over the last week.

More than 2,350 people have now been detained under the Terrorism Act for peacefully holding cardboard signs opposing the government’s proscription of the direction-action group Palestine Action in July.

Defend Our Juries has planned out the most widespread wave of civil disobedience in Britain in recent history this month in the run-up to a judicial review against the ban starting tomorrow.

Speaking shortly after the arrests on Saturday, a Defend Our Juries spokesperson said: “We took action in the peace garden in London today because it is a reminder that people acting in the name of Palestine Action only ever acted to save lives, never to take lives.

“It’s utterly shameful that the Labour government’s authoritarian ban of a protest group has now seen more than 2,350 peaceful protesters arrested in the last few months.

“There are six prisoners who have allegedly taken action with Palestine Action to disrupt the UK-Israel weapons pipeline who are being held in UK prisons beyond the maximum time limit of six months before trial and who are today entering their fourth week on a collective open-ended hunger strike. 

“One of their demands is to lift the ban on Palestine Action. Despite frequent requests for a meeting to discuss their demands, [Justice Secretary] David Lammy has failed to respond. 

“The prisoners’ health is declining and we urge their demands to be immediately met.”

No arrests were made at protests in Belfast and Derry on the same day, despite the proscription also applying to the north of Ireland.