Youth Demand says more protesters have signed up since Quaker house raid
Group claims as many as 200 people have expressed interest in joining its action as arrests drive awareness

The activist group targeted in an unprecedented police raid on a Quaker meeting house said it had resulted in large numbers of people signing up to take part in a series of new protests starting this week.

Six women attending a gathering of the protest group Youth Demand were arrested after more than 20 uniformed police, some equipped with Tasers, forced their way into the Westminster meeting house on Thursday. The raid was condemned by the Quakers as “an aggressive violation”.

However, Youth Demand said the publicity surrounding the raid had had the effect of increasing awareness of their activities and as many as 200 people had since expressed interest in joining protests starting this Tuesday to highlight Israel’s actions in Gaza.

One of the women arrested and later released without charge told the Guardian on Sunday of how they and others at the venue, including a life-drawing class with a naked model, were shocked when police entered.

“These are welcome talks run every week and they are completely open to the public, so anyone who has seen a poster and is interested can come in and learn more. The police could have literally come along and sat down,” she said.

“Instead, we could see them gathering at the window and their little hats were tapping on the glass. Then they forced the door open and burst into a room with a group of women sitting in a circle. There was a life-drawing class in another room – with a model in the middle – and an elderly woman was in the toilet at the time.”

A student who was arrested at the talk said police had released her in the middle of the night and that she was still waiting for them to return a laptop, which she needed for exams, and a notebook containing French notes from her coursework.

The group, whose activists include young veterans of the Just Stop Oil movement, said it was planning to “shut down London” on a daily basis starting from Tuesday, when it is due to hold a rally at 6.30pm on Malet Street, Bloomsbury...

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