UK pro-Palestine activist arrested weeks after being released on bail

Campaigners believe Qesser Zuhrah, who is alleged to have participated in a raid linked to Palestine Action, was arrested over an Instagram post.London, United Kingdom – Qesser Zuhrah, a young pro-Palestine activist who was released on bail last month, has been arrested again.In footage shared on social media, the 21-year-old is seen on Monday morning being handcuffed by masked police officers, taken from her home in Watford, near London, and placed into a car destined for prison.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘Keffiyehs seized, left to die’: Inside the Palestine Action hunger strikelist 2 of 4In U-turn, UK police say Palestine Action protesters will be arrested againlist 3 of 4Palestine Action supporters arrested as London’s Met Police reverse policylist 4 of 4Palestine aIly Ireland under fire for allowing weapons transfers to Israelend of listLisa Minerva Luxx, a campaigner supporting Zuhrah, told Al Jazeera they believed she was arrested “because of an Instagram story she posted, which allegedly encouraged people to take ‘direct action’”.Herfordshire Police told Al Jazeera that a 21-year-old woman was arrested and remains in custody, without naming Zuhrah. They said she was suspected of intentionally encouraging a crime and the “encouragement of terrorism”.Zuhrah, who was first detained in late 2024, is among a collective of defendants known as the “Filton 24”. They are alleged to have raided an Elbit Systems UK factory in Filton, near Bristol, on August 6, 2024 – an incident that was claimed by Palestine Action.The direct action group’s stated objective is to counter Israeli war crimes – and what it says is British complicity in them – by targeting weapons manufacturers and associated companies. Its main target is Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, which has several UK sites.“The officers arresting Qesser at home [on Monday] covered their faces to avoid accountability in the same way ICE agents have been seen doing in violent raids in the US,” said campaigners supporting the Filton 24.