FORMER Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf has accused the government of abusing anti-terror laws to target Palestine solidarity activists.

To chants of “free, free Palestine” and “stop bombing Iran,” an estimated 350,000 joined the emergency protest — called in the wake of Israel’s Iranian offensive — as it marched from Russell Square to rally at Whitehall on Saturday afternoon.

It was there that the former SNP leader, in his address to the rally organised by umbrella organisation Palestine Coalition — which includes the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Stop The War — rounded on Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to used anti-terror legislation to proscribe Palestine Action.

Ms Cooper’s controversial determination came after the group gained access to RAF Brize Norton on Friday, daubing two jets in red paint in protest at ongoing intelligence assistance the RAF is providing Israeli forces in Gaza.

The non-violent protest was the latest in a series from Palestine Action, which has in recent years repeatedly targeted businesses and organisations who supply or support the Israeli regime.

The move to proscribe was however slammed in a statement from human right’s group Liberty’s Sam Grant, who said: “Targeting a protest group with terrorism powers in this way is a shocking escalation of the government’s crackdown on protest and we urge the Home Secretary to rethink.

“It’s clear the actions of Palestine Action don’t meet the government’s own proportionality test to be proscribed as a terrorist group, but the consequences for the group’s supporters if ministers go ahead would be heavy – with things like wearing their logo carrying prison sentences.

“This move needs to be viewed in light of the sustained crackdowns on protest we have seen from successive governments over recent years, and the worrying fact that there are more and more non-violent protesters spending years in prison.”

Mr Yousaf, who had seen several of his partner’s family members trapped in Gaza as Israeli forces began their onslaught, bluntly told the rally: “While we stand a stone’s throw from Downing Street, let’s make it clear to the prime minister: You try to intimidate us with your anti-terror laws by abusing them, but you’ll never silence us as we speak out against the genocide that you’re supporting.

“We’re not the terrorists — the ones that are literally killing children, they are the terrorists.”