Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and its coalition partners have condemned attempts by the Met Police to prevent a pro-Palestine march in central London on Saturday 6 July, and called upon the police to accept the compromise route which has been suggested. Organisers say cops are doing this to ‘protect the new Labour Party government from embarrassment’.
Pro-Palestine march on 6 July
The pro-Palestine march on 6 July will be the 16th major demonstration in London since Israel began its genocidal attack on Gaza in October 2023.
However, despite following all the normal protocols in coordinating with the police, the march organisers have not been offered any central London start or end point for the demonstration, in contrast to every other occasion.
No persuasive reason has been given by the police and the organisers believe it reflects a political consideration not to have a new government, which all the polls indicate will be led by Sir Keir Starmer, overshadowed by hundreds of thousands of demonstrators seeking to end UK complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The Coalition behind the marches had notified the police of the intention to hold a demonstration over a month ago, and have had meetings to discuss several routes which have become well established over the last nine months.
In a meeting with the Gold Commander on 21 June, no objections were raised about the proposal to rally in Whitehall at the end of the march, and it was agreed that the police would confirm acceptance on 24 June.
Despite the coalition organisers chasing the police for confirmation that day, no communication was received until 26 June when the police indicated that they would not allow a march which ended on Whitehall or Parliament Square, citing the need for businesses, tourists, the media, and politicians to have access to that area all day.
Met Police protecting the new Labour government?
The marches have been overwhelmingly peaceful by the police’s own admission and with few arrests – just two out of 175,000 people at the last demonstration. Despite this the police have sought to reject these proposals without providing any convincing justification.
The coalition has written to the police suggesting a compromise route beginning on the Embankment, marching via Parliament Square to the Israeli Embassy. This would occupy one side of the square for a maximum of two hours as protestors marched though and leave Whitehall completely free.
The police have been asked to respond positively to this compromise to allow the march to proceed without hindrance.
Stop The War Coalition said in a statement:
We believe the [Met Police’s] aim is to ensure an incoming (Keir Starmer) Government is not confronted with the views of hundreds of thousands of people demanding an end to the genocide.
Ben Jamal, PSC director, said:
Keir Starmer is facing his first test on the willingness of his government to support the right to peaceful protest, including for protest to take place near Westminster.
The Met Police are threatening to use repressive powers under pernicious legislation passed by the Tory government to stop a protest near Parliament. It has been legitimate for nine months for hundreds of thousands of people to bring their demands for justice for Palestine to the seat of Government, but suddenly it is not.
There is no sensible or persuasive reason for this, other than the new government might be embarrassed to have pictures beamed around the world with people in Whitehall demanding justice for Palestine. This is the first big test of the incoming government – will they robustly uphold the democratic right to protest?
Featured image via the Canary
