Hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully through central London yesterday to protest against Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza, following a week of intense political debate over the policing of sensitive demonstrations.
The Metropolitan Police said around 300,000 people had converged on the capital from all parts of the country, while organisers of the pro-Palestinian event put the number closer to 800,000 and claimed it was one of the biggest marches in British history.
The attendance will add to political pressure on both the prime minister Rishi Sunak and the Labour leader Keir Starmer to back calls for a ceasefire in the conflict, which began after a Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on 7 October, murdering 1,200 Israelis and taking around 240 hostages.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Friday that Israel’s relentless retaliatory bombardment had killed 11,078 people in the territory, while 1.5 million had fled their homes.
The march took place amid heightened tension between the Met police and Suella Braverman, the home secretary, who last week accused the force of showing bias when it came to demonstrations and of favouring left-wing causes and what she called pro-Palestinian “mobs”.
On Saturday morning, far-right counter-protesters had clashed with police near the Cenotaph in Whitehall, ahead of an Armistice Day service. Scuffles broke out as police attempted to stop a crowd of far-right activists, Islamophobes and football supporters carrying St George’s flags marching along the Embankment towards Whitehall shortly after 10am.
The group, which had been chanting “England til I die” pushed through the police barrier, with some shouting “let’s have them” as officers hit out with batons. Further clashes took place in Chinatown with counter-protesters chanting: “You’re not English any more” towards officers. The Met said officers had “faced aggression from counter-protesters who are in the area in significant numbers”.
Tommy Robinson, founder and former leader of the far-right English Defence League, was seen among the crowds protesters.
There were further clashes into the evening, including a crowd of roughly 150 rightwing protesters in Parliament Square. According to the BBC, an offensive chant about Allah was chanted and a Palestinian flag was ripped up. By Saturday night, police said there had been 126 arrests and nine officers had been hurt during the clashes.
Met assistant commissioner Matt Twist said the violence from rightwing protesters towards the police “was extraordinary and deeply concerning”. He said the “intense debate about protest and policing” had contributed to an increase in tensions.
The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, pinned the blame for the violence on Braverman who he claimed had stoked the tension and stirred up people on the far right. “The scenes of disorder we witnessed at the Cenotaph are a direct result of the home secretary’s words. The police’s job has been made much harder,” he said.
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, also called for Braverman to resign. “The far-right has been emboldened by the home secretary. She has spent her week fanning the flames of division. They are now attacking the police on Armistice Day. The home secretary’s position is untenable. She must resign.”
With Downing Street coming under pressure from Tory MPs from across the party to remove Braverman, Sunak last night condemned the “violent, wholly unacceptable” scenes. He said both the far right and “Hamas sympathisers” had been responsible.
“Remembrance weekend is a time for us to come together as a nation and remember those who fought and died for our freedom,” he said. “What we have seen today does not defend the honour of our Armed Forces, but utterly disrespects them.
“That is true for EDL thugs attacking police officers and trespassing on the Cenotaph, and it is true for those singing antisemitic chants and brandishing pro-Hamas signs and clothing on today’s protest. The fear and intimidation the Jewish community have experienced over the weekend is deplorable.”
Braverman did not comment on Saturday night. Dozens of Conservative MPs have been bombarding the whips with demands for her to be fired. Senior government sources indicated that the prime minister had not wanted Armistice Day commemorations to be overshadowed by the dismissal of a senior cabinet minister but that he was still considering sacking her.
The police said the vast majority of arrests involved the far-right counter-protesters. They did detain a group of about 150 pro-Palestinian protesters in Grosvenor Square, Belgravia, on Saturday evening, after they said fireworks were let off.
While the pro-Palestinian demonstration was peaceful, many of those present chanted “from the river to the sea”, the saying identified by many as indicating support for the elimination of the state of Israel.
Police also said they were investigating at least five allegations of hate crimes including antisemitic and racist chants and placards displayed on the march.
Officers said one read “Welcome to Gaza Twinned with Auschwitz”. Another person carried a sign depicting the antisemitic trope of an Israeli snake wrapped around the globe, the police said, while two men who appeared to be wearing Hamas headbands were also being sought.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said: “Our job is to ensure that we police without fear or favour, that we balance the rights of everybody, be that protesters, counter-protesters or people living or coming into London.And our job this weekend is to ensure that people are kept safe, and that is what my focus is on.”
Rachel Solnick, a PhD student on the march, said: “I feel really appalled by how some of the framing around liberation for Palestine has been as if there’s an opposition, or some kind of binary between Jewish safety and Palestinian safety. I absolutely disagree with that framing.
“I think that loads of us who have Jewish ancestry feel really strongly that what is taking place in Palestine is ethnic cleansing and we don’t want it to happen in our names. It feels so important to gather here in numbers, as Jews and as members of the British public in general, to counter that narrative.”
Another marcher, Matt Storey, said: “I’m so frustrated with our government not taking a firm line on the conflict or making an effort to stop it. It’s despicable. My children are part-Palestinian, so I’m also here for them. There are lots of children dying over there.”
The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, called for calm, with a veiled swipe at Braverman for inflaming tensions in the days before the protests. Cooper tweeted: “Some disgraceful scenes this morning. We urge everyone to respect the police & each other & exercise calm. Everyone must reflect on the impact of their words & actions. It is the responsibility of all of us to bring people together over this weekend not divide and inflame.”