“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.”
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.
