“I obviously could stay in,” she says. “I grow cut flowers, and I have a rescue dog. I could just stay and do those things. But it just doesn’t feel right.”
It was a moving experience: “I was just thinking about the mothers who’ve lost their children, or the children who have seen their fathers blown up, or all the people who are just starving. I wasn’t frightened. I thought I could be arrested. But really, what was most important to me was that the action was dignified and peaceful.”
So why are police arresting peaceful protesters? And where does this leave our faith in the police? Morwenna, who was eventually taken to be processed in Plumstead, east London, describes her interaction with police as respectful, and none of the women I spoke with raised an issue with the way they were treated. Most felt that the police were not fully supportive of having to arrest people under these circumstances.
“It’s all just coming from government orders, right?” says Penna Rojas. “So the government has put out this legislation, this horrendous, unjust, stupid law, and people are challenging it, and I think it’s backed them into a corner.”
“There were some police who were saying they agreed with us,” she adds. “There were some police who said that they didn’t know about the legislation, they didn’t know about Palestine Action, and they were like, ‘We don’t want to know, because it makes our job easier not knowing’.”
I put this to the Met police and asked what purpose they saw in arresting peaceful protesters. It declined to comment on specific claims or arrests. It directed us to previous statements it had made, which a spokesperson said: “makes clear why arrests were made, which ranged from showing support for a proscribed organisation, as well as assaulting officers and breaching conditions.”
Lilah McKim, 24, also noticed a reticence from police when she was arrested earlier this month at the Palestine Action protest. “The female officer who arrested me was nervous,” says McKim. “She was picking her nails. I could tell she felt quite uncomfortable arresting me.”
The experience for McKim was “intense” and “overwhelming,” but she feels “at peace,” in the knowledge that she is doing everything to be on the right side of history.”
“We’ve just all been witnesses to the genocide in Palestine through our phones,” she says. “Me being arrested feels like a very small cost to pay, to stand up for the rights of indigenous Palestinians.”
Many have raised concerns around the decision for police to mass arrest people at the Palestine Action protest, some arguing that it was a monumental waste of resources when our courts are facing huge backlogs, and that it paves the way for further crackdown on our ability to protest.
Claudia says she’s seen a concerning change: “I think it’s interesting if we compare where we are immediately to where we were in 2019 or 2020, where if you went to any kind of protest that was in some way more disruptive, it wasn’t a guaranteed arrest, and even if you were arrested, there was no guarantee of a charge.”
“What we’re seeing today is anyone who’s engaging in protests like this should be absolutely prepared for arrest,” she continues. “Anytime you’re arrested, you should be prepared to be charged, because they are following through like that immediately, and the consequences are more severe than they used to be.”
It’s worrying that the fundamental democratic act of protest – particularly when peaceful – immediately comes with such high personal risk. It’s no wonder so many people turned up to Parliament Square when this legislation is being enforced by a government that considers Israel a political ally, despite its military campaign killing over 60,000 people since October 7 (as per the BBC), and the UN calling its starvation of Palestinians in Gaza “a serious violation of international law and a crime against humanity.”
Despite the risks of arrest, will these women be protesting again? “I’m an activist,” says McKim, “so this is what I’m gonna spend my whole life doing. If I feel like I do need to get arrested for it, then I will. People need to stand up for justice. As Angela Davis says: Freedom is a constant struggle.”
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