A 59-year-old white woman, often from a professional background in southern England, is most likely to be apprehended by UK police in a wave of arrests that has resulted in the nation's biggest terrorist law crackdown in 25 years.
The National can reveal that almost half of terror-related arrests since 9/11 have been made in the past 12 months, due to people expressing support for the proscribed campaign group Palestine Action.
Dozens more arrests were made on Thursday, as supporters of the group gathered at a demonstration outside Westminster Magistrate's Court, London. They shouted “I support Palestine Action” as a group to trigger mass arrests.
Palestine Action is a direct-action protest group that was proscribed last year after a series of demonstrations at Israel-linked arms factories and a British Royal Air Force Base. Though the High Court initially ruled the government’s ban on the organisation unlawful, this was overturned by the Court of Appeal in June.
The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed it would hear an appeal against that ruling, raising the prospect charges against demonstrators will be dropped if Palestine Action is de-proscribed.
The campaign to have the ban reversed by provoking mass arrests under UK terror laws is being led by the group Defend Our Juries, which says more than 3,500 people have been arrested after supporting the group.
There have been 6,539 arrests linked to terrorism-related activity since 9/11 in Britain. Of these, 2,819 (43 per cent) were linked to expressing support for Palestine Action following its proscription in July last year, according to latest police data on terror arrests up to March 2026.
Campaigners for Palestine Action want to see the establishment of a Palestinian state, an end to the war in Gaza, and for the UK to impose a full arms embargo and sanctions on Israel. They believe that direct action is a more effective way to advocate the Palestinian cause.
Andrea Middleton, a creative therapist who was arrested for taking part in a demonstration in August, said she was compelled to do because she volunteers to work with traumatised children at a school.
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A demonstrator is detained as the activist group Defend Our Juries hold a 'Graduation Day' protest at Westminster Magistrates' Court, London. Getty Images -
The protest was organised by Defend Our Juries to coincide with proceedings against people arrested under the Terrorism Act. Getty Images -
A demonstrator lies on the pavement outside Westminster Magistrates' Court. Getty Images -
Police arrest a supporter of the banned Palestine Action group at a protest in Leeds in November 2025. EPA -
Nationwide protests are taking place over six days against the proscribing of activist group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation November 2025. EPA -
Protestors from the group Defend Our Juries demonstrate outside the UK government hub Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2025. Getty Images -
A protester in Leeds in 2025. AFP -
The demonstration in Edinburgh in 2025. Getty Images -
A protester is removed by police in Leeds in 2025. AFP -
A protester writes out a placard in Leeds in 2025. AFP
She has been charged according to Section 13 of the Terrorism Act, and is awaiting trial, possibly facing six months in prison if found guilty. She has since lost her job at the school, has had a bank account closed and travel restrictions imposed.
“I felt it was not even a moral question but an imperative to stand up and say 'how are we being complicit when weapons that are being manufactured here are being used to bomb children in other parts of the world?,'” she told The National.
Others fear their right to protest is under threat. They say direct-action demonstrations are an important part of British democracy dating back to the Suffragettes and the anti-war movement, and that the ban on Palestine Action is an abuse of terror laws.
Demographic change
The campaign has led to major changes in the demographic of those typically arrested for terrorism-related crimes.
The average age of demonstrators deliberately seeking arrest is 59, with the oldest being 89, according to police figures.
The pensioners among them say they are willing to risk a terror-related conviction because they have no jobs to lose. That demographic has dramatically altered the average age of terror-related arrests – it is 31 for all other arrests.
Almost all of those arrested for supporting Palestine Action (97 per cent) are of “white ethnic appearance”. The proportion of women who were arrested last year for supporting Palestine Action rose by 32 percentage points to 48 per cent, while the proportion of men decreased by the same amount to 52 per cent. Of the 241 arrests not linked to supporting Palestine Action in the year ending March 2026, 91 per cent were male.
Only 484 of the 2,819 people arrested had been charged by March, with the vast majority released on bail.
Long road to court
The aim of the mass arrests is to compel the government to overturn its ban on Palestine Action. Defend Our Juries said the demonstration on Thursday was a “key test” for Prime Minister Andy Burnham's new government.
Critics of the ban include former MI6 director Richard Barrett.
Yet when it found the government ban lawful, the Court of Appeal said the group was promoting violence. Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said Palestine Action differed to the Suffragettes because of how their actions are organised.
“It is not – as claimed – a direct-action civil disobedience protest group like the Suffragettes, operating transparently in the open,” she said. “It is a covert organisation, which operates with secret cells to avoid the detection and prosecution of those using violence to destroy property and cause injury.”
Meanwhile, trials have been delayed by the new appeal to the Supreme Court. Even thought the court accepted the hearing on Wednesday, people still travelled to court on Thursday after seeing their names on a court list.
Instead the administrative hearing originally scheduled for Thursday had been adjourned to October 26 in anticipation of the appeal. After this administrative hearing, around 30 people can expect to be tried every two weeks.
Ms Middleton said the delays in setting a trial date were taking their toll. She was first arrested in August last year, then charged. “My trial date was in June, that was then put forward to July and now it’s been moved again,” she said. “Because it's under terrorism laws, it really does have implications for people and their jobs”.
People are not required to attend the administrative hearing but many said the letters they received were unclear or contained contradicting information. Bernice Benton, who came from Wales for the hearing, said she didn't want to risk being fined for not attending. “I don’t want any penalties for not turning up when I should have done,” she said.
