AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
In the United Kingdom, police have been arresting a record number of protesters this summer. The demonstrators have come out in support of a pro-Palestinian group now banned under British anti-terrorism laws. But the high number of arrests has raised concerns that freedom of speech is under attack, as NPR's Fatima Al-Kassab reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: What are you doing? Come here.
FATIMA AL-KASSAB, BYLINE: Police wrestle handcuffs onto protesters in front of Parliament, arresting supporters of Palestine Action, a group which Britain's home secretary told reporters this month is behind...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Violent attacks including injuries, including weapons, smoke bombs causing panic among innocent people.
AL-KASSAB: Palestine Action is a protest group which mainly vandalizes weapons factories supplying parts to Israel. When the group broke into a military base in England and sprayed paint on some Royal Air Force planes, the government declared them a terrorist organization, making membership or support of the group a crime punishable by up to 14 years in jail. But every weekend, cities across the U.K. have nevertheless filled with people expressing support for the group and getting arrested for it. I spoke to one of the terror suspects.
DEBORAH HINTON: Here I am, 81 years old, on bail for terrorism.
AL-KASSAB: Deborah Hinton is a retired British magistrate who has previously been interviewed on local radio about her gardening skills. On July 19, she was arrested on the steps of her local cathedral for holding a placard reading, I support Palestine Action.
HINTON: A whole lot of very scarily dressed policemen went down the line, and they arrested us. And I must say, that was pretty terrifying. I was shaking so uncontrollably.
AL-KASSAB: This was Hinton's first brush with the law. In the past, she's been honored by Queen Elizabeth for her services to her local community.
HINTON: The average age, I think, was well over 70. I mean, we were a respectable lot of people sitting there with placards in total silence.
AL-KASSAB: Her fellow detainees this summer include vicars, retired teachers and even one of King Charles' former advisers. Most have been senior citizens. The U.K.'s independent watchdog of terrorism laws, Jonathan Hall, told the BBC the law applies to everyone equally.
JONATHAN HALL: Whether you look like a sort of - if you like, I use the phrase a hairy foreigner, or you're some nice white old lady sitting in the road.
AL-KASSAB: Many of these nice old ladies were protesting about the war in Gaza before Palestine Action was banned, but many more have come out because they're worried the ban endangers their civil liberties. That's Lord Peter Hain's concern as well. He's a lawmaker in the House of Lords, from the ruling center-left Labour Party, and a former government minister.
PETER HAIN: When I was secretary of state for Northern Ireland, I dealt with serious terrorists. Palestine Action, whether you agree with it or not - and I've never supported any of its activities - is not a terrorist organization. It's not like al-Qaida.
AL-KASSAB: Hain also spent many years campaigning against apartheid in South Africa.
HAIN: We would have been designated as terrorists. So would the suffragettes, campaigning for votes for women a century ago in Britain, as they did things far, far worse than Palestine Action have ever done.
AL-KASSAB: The U.N. has called on Britain to scrap the ban. Amnesty International has called it a threat to freedom of expression. Palestine Action has appealed its terrorism label, and London's High Court has said a hearing on that can go ahead for November. Meanwhile, Deborah Hinton, the 81-year-old on bail for terrorism, is keeping herself busy with her volunteer work while she awaits word on whether she'll go to jail.
HINTON: I try not to think about it because it's not a very - it's a bit of a gloomy prospect. I've got a grandson who's 22 months old. I want him to grow up in a country where there's freedom of speech.
AL-KASSAB: And she's prepared to go to jail for that.
Fatima Al-Kassab, NPR News, London. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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