Six Cumbrians were arrested in the capital under the Terrorism Act at the weekend for protesting the ban on Palestine Action, an activist group has said.
At least half a dozen people from the county were among more than 500 individuals arrested in a mass demonstration in London on Saturday.
Many of those arrested were elderly or disabled, with ages ranging from 18 to 87.
The demonstrators were in Trafalgar Square protesting against the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action a terrorist group last July.
This decision made it illegal for members of the public to support the group.
However, in February, the High Court ruled the ban unlawful but it is understood the government will take the case to the Court of Appeal.
Due to the ban remaining in place for now, the Metropolitan Police has previously said that it would continue to arrest protesters who support Palestine Action.
At Saturday’s protest, at least six Cumbrians were arrested by the Met for supporting Palestine Action, the activist group Defend our Juries has said.
Protesters in Trafalgar Square on Saturday afternoon held signs reading "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."
Defend our Juries called for Saturday’s protest, and following the more than 500 arrests, a spokesperson for the activist group said: “It is truly surreal that over 500 people have been arrested for defying a ban the High Court has declared unlawful.
“An already absurdly authoritarian measure has now descended even further into farce ahead of the Court of Appeal hearing this month.”
Mark Arrowsmith, 63, a teacher from Kendal, was arrested twice on Saturday after returning to Trafalgar Square for a second time to hold a sign immediately on release from Police custody.
It is the sixth time he has been arrested for the same offence since July, having lost his job as a result.
He said: “It’s incredible that more than 500 people are willing to get arrested for terrorism just for holding up a cardboard sign opposing genocide, and it was an honour to join them. People are also clear that the right to protest is a hard-won freedom that won’t be given up."
Catherine Rennie-Nash, 75, from Kendal, said: “To proscribe an organisation as terrorists because it damages the property of Israeli arms manufacturers is indefensible.”
Grandmother Gillian Kelly, 81, from Ambleside, said proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist group is “an insidious curtailing of our freedom”.
Clare Rodger, 21, from Cockermouth, said: “The government has chosen to have us arrested, despite the High Court ruling that the ban was unlawful, but we know it is a small sacrifice for us to make in order to stand up for those resisting British complicity in the genocide in Palestine."
On the protest, a Met Police spokesperson said: “We are grateful to all the officers involved for their professionalism.”
According to Counter Terrorism Police, the number of arrests made of people allegedly supporting Palestine Action since the ban came into force is more than 2,700.
Of the more than 500 people arrested on Saturday, many were elderly or disabled, according to Defend our Juries.
One of those arrested was Robert Del Naja, the former Massive Attack frontman.
Tom Southerden, Amnesty International UK's law and human rights director, said: "Today's mass arrests of peaceful protesters in Trafalgar Square under UK terrorism law are yet another blow to civil liberties in this country - and made all the more outrageous by the Metropolitan Police's own U-turn.
"The High Court ruled in February that the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful.
"The Met rightly said it would stop making arrests.
"It has now gone back to its old, failed policy - mass arrests of people holding pieces of card, including today an elderly woman with walking sticks.
"This is not policing. This is the state criminalising dissent."
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "We are grateful to all the officers involved for their professionalism."
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