This “National March for Palestine” began at around 12pm GMT, shortly after World War I Armistice commemorations were also held across the country this weekend.
Five weeks after the deadly attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which responded by massively bombing the Gaza Strip, protesters are chanting Palestinian flags and waving signs demanding “Stop the bombing of Gaza.” They chant “Liberate Palestine” and “Ceasefire now”. stripes.
An extensive security system was deployed in the British capital to prevent possible riots. Police had already arrested almost 200 people at previous marches since October 7th. This is also against the advice of the government, which described it as “disrespectful” on this memorial weekend. On Friday evening, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called on demonstrators to march “peacefully and respectfully”.
Conflicts
Nearly 2,000 police officers have been mobilized and London Police chief of operations Laurence Taylor stressed that this weekend will be “particularly tense and difficult”. In particular, he expected that nationalist counter-demonstrators, including hooligans, would flock to the site, increasing the risk of confrontations.
According to several British media outlets, Tommy Robinson, founder of the right-wing extremist group English Defense League, is among these counter-demonstrators. In the late morning, scuffles broke out between police and nationalist activists as they attempted to approach the area of Whitehall where the memorial to British soldiers who died in battle is located.
The agents “suffered violence and attacks from counter-protesters who threw bottles and other projectiles at them. We will respond decisively to this disruption and this unacceptable aggression,” the Metropolitan Police said on X (formerly Twitter).
These officers are on duty in central London today to keep people safe.
They faced violence and abuse from counter-protesters, throwing bottles and other missiles at them.
We will respond decisively to unacceptable aggression and disorder. pic.twitter.com/RtthaAHYYD
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) November 11, 2023
It claimed to have arrested two people suspected of possessing a knife and a stick and is currently holding “a large group” of these counter-protesters behind a security cordon on a street in the capital.
Political crisis
The organization of the march fell into a political crisis as the government put pressure on the police to ban the march, which they refused. Rishi Sunak warned he would hold police chief Mark Rowley “responsible” for any riots.
Interior Minister Suella Braverman, who described the pro-Palestinian protests as “hate marches,” sparked a barrage of criticism after publicly accusing police of showing “double standards” in their handling of the protests.
On Friday evening she reiterated that she “fully supports” the police, but several political leaders accused her of adding fuel to the fire ahead of the procession. Several opposition elected officials renewed calls for his resignation from government on Saturday, including Scottish Prime Minister Humza Yousaf.
“The extreme right was encouraged by the interior minister […] They are now attacking the police on Armistice Day. The Interior Minister’s position is untenable. She must resign,” he wrote on X.