Met Police disrupts this Saturday’s massive anti-genocide march – to suit small pro-Israel rally
Pro-Palestinian groups say police attacking democracy and civil rights in last-minute two-hour delay
Anti-genocide groups have accused the Metropolitan Police of deliberate disruption of a huge pro-Palestine march in London on Saturday, by imposing a ‘last-minute’ two-hour delay on the usual start time – apparently to accommodate a small pro-Israel demo, expected to be at most a few hundred people, at a sandwich chain that has decided not to expand into Israel and then at the Israeli embassy.
Massive anti-genocide marches have started at noon for almost a year and this was both the advertised time for Saturday and the time notified to the Met a month ago, but while Metropolitan Police chiefs have previously refused to target the peaceful marches, this appears to have changed under Keir Starmer’s burgeoning police state and organisers have been told at short notice not just that they must start at 2.30pm instead – posing problems for many who have to travel into London and get home again afterwards – but also that anyone who marches earlier than 2.30pm will be arrested.
Saturday’s march is the first that will march from the city centre to the Israeli embassy in Kensington.
But restrictions imposed on organisers this week include pushing back the start time of the protest to 2.30pm, two-and-a-half hours after the midday gathering time already advertised, and the usual start time for previous demonstrations.
MEE understands that police have also told organisers that participants could be arrested if they march before 2.30pm.
The anti-war march’s organisers have issued a statement condemning the ‘unjustified’ police manoeuvre as an attack on the democratic rights of UK citizens:
We are deeply concerned by the Metropolitan Police’s decision to impose severe and unjustified restrictions on Saturday’s demonstration against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
These new conditions, including a delayed start time of two and a half hours after the advertised assembly, effectively hinder our fundamental right to peaceful assembly and protest. For 18 consecutive marches since October, we have gathered at 12 PM and
commenced shortly thereafter-an arrangement that accommodates those travelling long distances, including thousands who have pre-booked coach travel.The last-minute disruption of these plans, without any clear rationale, raises serious questions
about the police’s respect for our democratic rights.Since notifying the police of our intentions on 8 August, we have faced a series of delays,
obstacles, and uncooperative behaviour. Meetings have been cancelled without notice, and our
reasonable proposal for an alternative route to the Israeli Embassy was dismissed outright.Now, with just four days’ notice, the police have imposed these new conditions without explanation, creating unnecessary obstacles for a demonstration expected to draw over one hundred thousand people.
The treatment of the Palestine movement by the police is unprecedented and deeply troubling. The consistent refusal to consider our proposed routes and the imposition of unreasonable conditions appear to be based on unfounded assumptions that our protests will lead to disruption or disorder, despite our long history of peaceful demonstrations. Such actions risk undermining the right to protest, a cornerstone of democracy.
It is crucial that the police reconsider these actions in light of their responsibility to uphold democratic freedoms. We will assemble at the advertised point, and, in exercising our right to peaceful protest, we will march to the Israeli Embassy. It is essential that the police recognise the importance of respecting the rights of citizens to gather and express their views peacefully.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Palestinian Forum in Britain
Friends of Al-Aqsa
Stop the War Coalition,
Muslim Association of Britain
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The order to change the start time is superficially to accommodate a pro-Israel demonstration by an Israeli-founded group called ‘Stop the Hate UK’ (STHUK), which was only arranged and announced this week. The group is angry at sandwich chain Pret for ‘caving in’ to pro-Palestine pressure and cancelling plans to expand into Israel after of a boycott campaign by opponents of Israel’s genocide. The pro-Israel group subsequently added a plan to demonstrate at the Israeli embassy, supposedly to commemorate Israelis killed at the Nova music festival on 7 October, even though an ‘immense’ number of these is now freely admitted by Israeli media to have been murdered by their own military.
Itai Galmundy, co-founder of STHUK, is also linked to the pro-Israel ‘Enough is Enough 2024) group. He spoke to far-right channel GB News, repeating long-debunked propaganda about the October Hamas raid, accusing the peaceful marches of representing ‘mob rule’, claiming he was threatened with death by a pro-Gaza marcher in front of a police officer and admitting that his group’s demo is specifically targeting the pro-Palestine march:
Palestine movement challenges police restrictions against national demonstration
By the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Organisers of the national Palestine demonstrations will set out their concerns about increasingly heavy-handed policing and attempts by the Metropolitan Police to seriously restrict them marching this Saturday in central London, at a press conference in Westminster this afternoon.
They will call on the government to show its support for the democratic right to protest and to intervene to make the Met see sense.
The Metropolitan Police has placed restriction orders on the protest, delaying the start time by one and a three quarter hours to 2.30pm. A meeting on Monday between the Met and representatives of the six organisations behind the pro-Palestine protests, which have seen hundreds of thousands of people on the streets in demand of an immediate ceasefire since 7 October, failed to resolve the issues, with the police continuing to put obstacles in the way and refusing to confirm when the two sides would meet again.
A spokesperson for the march organisers said: “We will set out to the media our concerns that the actions of the Met over the past week are part of a pattern of increasingly heavy-handed policing tactics that place unjustified and impractical restrictions on our democratic right of peaceful protest.
“In the week that the government had to admit that it must suspend at least some arms licences to Israel, albeit just a fraction, it is imperative that the police do not hinder an entirely peaceful march in support of the people of Palestine, an end to the genocide in Gaza and a ban on all Israeli arms sales.
“These moves have not been explained by the police but will cause serious disruption to an anticipated 100,000 people. It is not practicable to make changes to an agreed route at such a late stage without creating major logistical difficulties. The route has been advertised across all social media and in emails to members and supporters of all of our organisations. Coaches have been booked to arrive for the 12 noon assembly time, and many tens of thousands of people have pre-booked other transport to arrive at that time and to return home after a rally which they would expect to be finished no later than 4.30pm.
“Our clear message to the Met is ‘We Will March’. We call on the government to show it supports the democratic right to peaceful protest and intervene to get the Met to see sense.”
- The organising coalition comprises the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Palestine Forum in Britain, Stop The War, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Friends of Al Aqsa, Muslim Association of Britain.
- The National March for Palestine takes place on Saturday, 7th September, assembling at 12PM.
- You can follow the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
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