Wearing a T-shirt, chanting songs at a demonstration or donating clothing could be enough for Israel's large Palestinian minority to fall foul of a newly passed anti-terrorism law, civil rights groups have warned.

The legislation, applied in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem, has been condemned as a "dangerous" threat to civil liberties. It dramatically broadens the range of offences to include sympathising with, encouraging and failing to prevent terrorism.

According to legal experts, it also gives Israeli police sweeping new powers to arrest suspects and deny them access to lawyers. Courts will be required to hand out long jail sentences.

Leaders of Israel's 1.7-million-strong Palestinian minority, which accounts for a fifth of the population, said the law was "anti-Arab" rather than "anti-terror". They fear it will be readily exploited to jail Palestinian citizens and East Jerusalem residents for political activity in showing solidarity with Palestinians under occupation.