British Police Arrest Greta Thunberg at London Protest Supporting Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested on Dec. 23 in central London while joining a Prisoners for Palestine demonstration outside the Aspen Insurance offices in the City of London.

“Eight members of activist group Palestine Action are staging a hunger strike to protest being held without bail while awaiting trial on various protest-related charges”

ABC News

Video circulated by campaigners shows her holding a placard reading "I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide."

ABC News

City of London Police said a 22-year-old woman was arrested under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for displaying material in support of a proscribed organisation.

Sources report the arrest was part of the same early-morning action that drew specialist officers to free activists who had glued themselves to the building.

Police said the demonstration involved direct action against the Aspen building.

Two activists sprayed red paint and reportedly used hammers on the facade, while others glued themselves to the entrance and were cut free by specialist officers.

ABP Live English

A man and a woman were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

Organisers said Aspen was targeted because it insures or provides services to Elbit Systems, an Israeli-linked defence firm that campaigners blame for UK involvement in arms supply chains to Israel.

The arrest sits against the backdrop of the UK government's proscription of Palestine Action earlier in the year and an ongoing hunger strike by activists on remand.

“Police arrest three people outside insurer of Israeli arms maker Elbit, including Thunberg for holding placard”

Al Jazeera

Reports vary on legal detail and scale.

Some outlets note the group was proscribed in July and say supporting it can carry heavy penalties, with organisers and some reports citing sentences up to 14 years and thousands of arrests.

Other outlets focus on earlier statutory language and different penalty figures.

Police and government statements meanwhile emphasise that most arrests have not resulted in terror charges and that decisions on bail and remand are for the courts.

Campaigners and reports across regions highlighted the immediate humanitarian urgency, saying multiple Palestine Action detainees have been on hunger strike since 2 November, with some hospitalised and others described as at 'critical' stages; outlets differ on exact counts and clinical details but agree the strikes are protracted and worsening.

That humanitarian emphasis appears strongest in West Asian and alternative outlets, while many mainstream outlets simply note the strike as the protest's stated cause.

Anadolu Ajansı

The arrest prompted immediate political and public debate: international commentators and some politicians condemned the detention as an attack on protest rights, while ministers and police emphasised legal process and that they do not name suspects before charge.

“Greta Thunberg was arrested in central London on Tuesday while supporting pro-Palestinian activists who are staging a hunger strike to protest against their imprisonment while awaiting trial on charges related to a series of earlier demonstrations”

Associated Press

UN figures and opposition politicians were quoted in several West Asian and alternative pieces as sharply criticising the UK’s handling, while mainstream coverage tended to highlight official statements that bail and remand are judicial matters.

Associated Press

This split in emphasis — rights and humanitarian alarm versus legal-procedural framing — is visible across the sources and influences how readers interpret the incident.