More than 70 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested in central London on Saturday on suspicion of breaching protest conditions after some allegedly broke through a police line as they marched from a rally in Whitehall.
Thousands of people had gathered to protest Israel’s 15-month war in Gaza, a day after a ceasefire deal was agreed with Hamas, with signs saying “Stop arming Israel” and “Free Palestine”.
The crowds were initially blocked from marching up Whitehall towards Trafalgar Square by a line of police, but some protesters broke through to advance toward the London landmark.
Footage posted on X appeared to show the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell among the protesters passing by officers as the crowd moved towards Trafalgar Square.
The Metropolitan police said a total of 77 people were arrested.
According to the PA news agency, police blocked entrances in and out of the square to contain the protest.
The Muslim Association of Britain criticised the Met’s decision to block the march, calling it “an outrageous assault on democracy, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression”.
Earlier, seven people were arrested, four on suspicion of public order offences, and two others on suspicion of breaching conditions for the protest, according to the Met. One of the conditions prevents those participating from entering a specific area around Portland Place.
A seventh individual was also arrested on suspicion of holding a placard suggesting support for banned organisations, the Met said.
One of those arrested was a member of the Stop the War coalition, the peace group said. It called for the release of Chris Nineham, the chief steward of the national Palestine marches.
The group said 10 police officers came to the front of the march on the pretext of discussing the march with Nineham and then jumped on him, forcing him on the ground, while protestors attempted to defend him.
Stop the War said: “This is an outrageous assault on the Palestine movement. It is an unacceptable assault on civil liberties. Chris Nineham must be released without charge. We refuse to be intimidated.”
The Met did not comment in response to the allegation.
Met commander Adam Slonecki, who led the policing operation, said: “This is the highest number of arrests we have seen, in response to the most significant escalation in criminality.
“We could not have been clearer about the conditions in place. Protesters were to remain in Whitehall with no march towards the BBC.
“Our relationship with protest organisers has to be based on trust and good faith. If they say they will act responsibly and lawfully we need to be able to know those are genuine assurances.”
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Slonecki added: “I am quite confident this was a coordinated breach with the intention being to reach the BBC at Portland Place in defiance of the conditions. There is video footage of one of the organisers clearly inciting the crowd to join a march and one of the organisations involved has released a statement this evening confirming as much.
“At the same time as the group was attempting to force its way past police lines, camera crews were seen arriving in Portland Place. It is unlikely that the timing was simply a coincidence.”
At the rally, The Crown actor Khalid Abdalla said in an address: “Tomorrow phase one of the ceasefire begins. It remains to be seen if the ceasefire will hold or if the blood shed since it was announced augurs what it will become.
“But still we will have cause to celebrate whatever its shape for the respite in this genocide, for the return of the hostages, for the release of prisoners.”
The demonstrations, which began days after the 7 October attack in 2023 and have continued weekly as the war stretched on – becoming one of the biggest protest movements in recent British history – have called for the end of the conflict that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians inside Gaza by Israeli attacks, according to health officials in the territory.
“For 15 months we have marched, we have rallied, we have protested in towns and cities across the UK with one of our central demands being that there be a ceasefire and now we stand on the brink of a ceasefire that promises to bring an end to the immediate, catastrophic killing of the Palestinian people,” said the Palestine Solidarity Campaign director, Ben Jamal.
On Friday, the Israeli government ratified a ceasefire deal to exchange dozens of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians in Israeli jails and to pause the war for an initial six weeks. The deal will take effect on Sunday.
Last week, the Met banned the march from gathering outside the BBC’s London headquarters, owing to its proximity to a synagogue. Protesters were planning to gather outside Broadcasting House before marching to Whitehall.
The Palestinian Forum in Britain said they “categorically rejected” a Met attempt to relocate the protest to Russell Square, with threats of arrest for individuals assembling elsewhere. The organisations said after “immense public pressure” the protest was able to proceed at Whitehall as planned.
Source: theguardian.com
