A pro-Palestine protest group has vowed to proceed with its demonstration in central London despite urgent calls from police and the Home Secretary to cancel. Defend Our Juries insists its Saturday march in Trafalgar Square will go ahead, claiming "cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win".
Around 1,500 people are expected to attend the demonstration, "including priests, vicars, pensioners and healthcare workers". The group has previously led demonstrations against the Government's proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.
Police escalate warnings
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said Friday afternoon that the force was "instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation". He warned the timing was particularly insensitive, coming "within hours of Thursday's awful terrorist murder of British Jews, when communities are most fearful".
The Metropolitan Police threatened to call in support from forces across the UK if necessary to arrest all those breaking the law. Previous demonstrations have resulted in 1,422 arrests across two events, the majority for supporting a proscribed organisation.
Rowley criticised the organisers for "deliberately choosing to encourage mass law breaking on this scale" and drawing "valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most".
Organisers defend demonstration
A Defend Our Juries spokesman said the group's "thoughts are with everyone who has lost loved ones in the horrific attack on Heaton Park Synagogue". He argued that postponing the action "would risk conflating the actions of the state of Israel with Jewish people around the world, as Netanyahu seeks to do".
The spokesman insisted the demonstration "is about defying the Government's absurdly authoritarian proscription of Palestine Action and the Government's complicity in the genocide being committed by the Israeli Government". He added: "Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win. It's more important than ever to defend our democracy, including our fundamental rights to peaceful protest and freedom of speech."
Government criticism intensifies
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood (Labour) expressed disappointment with the timing, telling LBC: "I don't think they do their cause any favours by behaving in this way. If the point of protest is to stand up for something and persuade other people that you are right, then I think this is entirely the wrong way to go about it."
Mahmood also criticised Thursday night protests following the Manchester attack, calling such behaviour "fundamentally un-British" and "dishonourable". Some 40 people were arrested during a large demonstration outside Downing Street, with six arrests for assaults on police officers.
Enhanced security measures
Police announced additional security deployments across London, including specialist Project Servator officers trained to spot potential criminal or terrorist activity. These dedicated patrols are designed to disrupt any potential criminal or terrorist activity in crowded places across the capital.
Armed police officers will be readily deployable across London throughout the weekend. Specialist officers are also working with event organisers to review policing and security plans for other public events.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism announced plans for a counter-demonstration outside Downing Street next Thursday to mark a week since the Manchester attack. A spokesperson said: "The time for dialogue, platitudes, and lip service has passed. Britain can no longer afford excuses while our Jewish community faces terror on our streets."
Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
