Andy Smith, who now lives in the UK, attended Saturday’s protest in Westminster’s Parliament Square with more than 1,000 others.
Palestine Action was proscribed as a terror group under the UK’s Terrorism Act in July, making membership of or support for it a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Mr Smith, who lived and was educated in Guernsey before leaving the island in 2010, said Palestine Action was a group that was close to his heart.
He said he attended the demonstration in order to vocalise his support for the right to protest, as well as to highlight the stance being taken by the UK government in relation to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
He alleged corruption within the government and claimed that ‘the police are being used as a tool to suppress our right to protest’.
During what Mr Smith said was mostly a peaceful, non-violent protest, he and others – including former actress Bianca Jagger and Massive Attack musician Robert Del Naja – held cardboard signs displaying support for Palestine Action.
After being arrested, Mr Smith said he refused to comply and ‘went floppy’.
He was taken to King Charles Street – at the rear of Downing Street – to be processed along with several others.
‘I said that if the police thought we were a legitimate terrorist threat, why did they bring us closer to Downing Street?’.
‘I voiced that I didn’t agree to a “fast track” processing system that essentially reduces a serious offence into a simple admin task.
‘If they thought we were a legitimate threat then they should take the necessary precautions and hold and process people properly, not reduce it to the equivalent of writing someone a traffic offence.
‘By complying you are giving licence to such behaviour.’
After refusing to give any personal details or fingerprints, Mr Smith was taken to Croydon Custody Centre, where he was held for about seven hours.
He was processed and then released on bail.
Mr Smith has previous experience of being arrested, having taken part in climate-related actions in the past with Extinction Rebellion.
He said he was unsure what the consequences of this particular arrest would be, given that the ban on Palestine Action as a terrorist group was due to be reviewed in November.
But he said he was aware that he potentially risked jail time if he attended a subsequent protest while the law remained as it was.
He was nevertheless resolute in his determination to fight against what he saw as an ‘injustice.’
‘If you value your human rights, now is the time to fight for them,’ he said.
The UK government yesterday put out a joint statement with 23 other countries, stating that humanitarian suffering in Gaza has reached unimaginable levels.
‘Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed now to halt and reverse starvation.’
The statement went on to call on the government of Israel to provide authorisation for all international NGO aid shipments and to unblock essential humanitarian actors from operating.
Gaza Health Ministry has put the total number of hunger-related deaths to 227, including 103 children.
Qatari news network Al Jazeera, which this week saw five journalists killed in a targeted attack by Israel, has said that at least 61,599 people in Gaza have been killed and 154,088 wounded since the start of the war.
The war followed the killing of 1,139 people in Israel during attacks by Hamas-led militants on 7 October 2023 when more than 200 were taken captive.
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