The daughter of a Holocaust survivor went through her fourth arrest at a Palestine Action protest in Aberystwyth last week.

On Tuesday 18 November, twelve of the 28 protestors were arrested for supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation.

Elizabeth Morley, 80, was the first to be arrested, who said she “cannot turn away” as the daughter of a man who survived Auschwitz.

She said: “[That day] was my fourth arrest under the 2000 Terrorism Act.

“Not even the threat of six months behind bars deters me.

“Unless the ban is lifted on Palestine Action, I will carry on protesting.

“Until Palestine is free, I will continue to support those who take direct action against Israel's weapons factories in this country because those weapons, dropped on thousands of innocent people in Gaza, have facilitated a genocide.

“As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, I cannot turn the other way.”

This video captures the moment 80-year-old Elizabeth Morley is arrested by police at a Palestine Action protest in Parliament Square on Saturday 9 August. Video: ukisnotinnocent
A still of Elizabeth being arrested by police at a Palestine Action protest in London's Parliament Square on Saturday 9 August. Video: ukisnotinnocent (ukisnotinnocent)

A video shows Elizabeth being helped to walk to a police van by two officers; others refused to walk and were carried to police vehicles by teams of police.

Those arrested included several other 80-year-olds, a Machynlleth town councillor, a local vicar, a retired school teacher and a leader of a community garden.

Dyfed-Powys Police said the 12 arrested have been released “pending further police enquiries”.

Protestors pointed to the famous first Welsh language protest at Trefechan Bridge in 1963, in which no arrests were made despite an estimated 500 protestors stopping traffic.

Aberystwyth was one of ten locations to host a protest in support of Palestine Action that day, with 12 arrests also being made in Cardiff, eight of 26 in Truro, nine in Northampton, 12 in Newcastle, 17 of 22 in Gloucester, 20 of 27 in Oxford, 25 in Leeds and 27 in Nottingham.

Machynlleth town councillor Ann MacGarry surrounded by police holding a sign which reads, 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action'. Photo: Palestine Solidarity Aberystwyth
Machynlleth town councillor Ann MacGarry surrounded by police holding a sign which reads, 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action'. Photo: Palestine Solidarity Aberystwyth (Palestine Solidarity Aberystwyth)

Scottish police chose not to make any arrests of the 49 signholders in Edinburgh that day.

The protests were coordinated by campaign group Defend Our Juries, calling for the government to lift the ban on Palestine Action and “end UK complicity in Israel’s genocide” after the UK was named in a recent UN draft report for its continued arms sales to Israel.

It comes ahead of a High Court hearing starting on 25 November which challenges the ban on the direct action group.

The protestors sat in silence for an hour before the police arrived in four vans.
The protestors sat in silence for an hour before the police arrived in four vans. (Palestine Solidarity Aberystwyth)

A spokesperson for the Defend Our Juries said: “Previously, many police forces have chosen to not enforce the ban, as is their constitutional right.

“So the uniform response by police forces [on 18 November] looks worryingly coordinated.

“The Home Office needs to answer: did it put pressure on local forces to make arrests?

Police surround an elderly protestor from Machynlleth.
Police surround an elderly protestor from Machynlleth. (Palestine Solidarity Aberystwyth)

“What kind of society do we live in when anyone who has the temerity to think and say the obvious - that the UK government is complicit in mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza and that Palestine Action only ever acted to save lives - is now absurdly arrested under our terrorism laws?”

Ninety were arrested in London at similar protests last weekend, as a string of coordinated protests continue ahead of the High Court hearing.