An 83-year-old retired priest has been arrested for defying a newly enforced ban on pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action, just hours after the group was formally outlawed by the UK government.
The Reverend Sue Parfitt, from Bristol, was detained for holding a placard that read: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” She was among more than 27 people arrested on Saturday for acts of defiance against the proscription.
Parfitt’s arrest has sparked widespread outrage on social media. One user called it “the march of authoritarianism & crackdown on freedom of speech & expression,” while another questioned whether it was now illegal to call her “a hero.”
Her friend, Jerry Hicks, demanded her release, stating: “She is against genocide & that’s not a crime.”
Another social media user said “Incredibly brave stuff here from Reverend Sue Parfitt. These are the people we will remember fondly when all of this is a distant nightmare.”
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The arrests came just after midnight on Saturday, as a government order to label Palestine Action a terrorist group took legal effect. Supporting or joining the group now carries a penalty of up to 14 years in prison.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had announced the ban following the group’s admission of vandalising two Voyager aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on 20 June. British police claimed that the damage totalled around £7 million. This could not be independently verified.
Palestine Action had attempted to delay the move through the courts. A High Court bid for interim relief was denied on Friday, and the Court of Appeal upheld that decision less than two hours before the ban was due to take effect.
MPs had voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to proscribe the direct action group, alongside the neo-Nazi Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement.
Human rights advocates have criticised the government’s decision as a disproportionate response aimed at silencing dissent.
Since its founding in 2020, Palestine Action has targeted firms supplying arms to Israel, saying it aims to shut down facilities complicit in Israeli war crimes. The group denies any affiliation with terrorist activity.
