A coalition of pro-Palestine organisations and activists has written to the Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley to demand urgent answers over the draconian policing of the national demonstration for Palestine that took place in London on 18 January.
Police made a total of 77 arrests at the demonstration in an unprecedented show of force that has raised grave concerns about abuse of process and the freedom to protest. Among the arrests was a man holding a placard calling for Hezbollah to be deproscribed and another who equated the Gaza genocide with the Nazi Holocaust.
The heavy handed tactics followed the imposition of restrictions on the originally agreed route of the march. Demonstrators had planned to march to the BBC headquarters but the Metropolitan Police then withdrew its permission, because of alleged concerns for the safety of Jews attending a synagogue some 400 yards from the confirmed route.
This is inexplicable, says the letter, since prayer and related activities are normally concluded well before mid-day. More significantly, there have been no recorded incidents of attacks on any synagogue close to the route of previous national Palestine demonstrations in London. Moreover, the Metropolitan Police’s own statistics show a very low level of arrests associated with previous demonstrations. At the protest in Whitehall, the police applied unnecessary and arbitrary measures, blocking access to tens of thousands who were trying to reach the previously agreed location for the speakers’ stage.
“The shock tactic used of arresting demonstrators for actions that clearly do not cross the criminal threshold appears to be designed to intimidate demonstrators and restrict the right to lawful protest,” says the letter.
The signatories, who include Islamic Human Rights Commission, Jewish Voice For Labour, Spinwatch and Black Lives Matter Coalition have demanded that police disclose details of the operational instructions and procedures in place at the demonstration, including whether or not representations were made by Zionist groups. They are also demanding to know what directives, if any, were given by the Home Secretary and the Mayor of London.
In comments made the day after the protest at an event organized by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Sir Mark Rowley said “sharper and stronger conditions” had been imposed on the demonstration in response to concerns about its impact on Jewish communities. The Board of Deputies is an avowedly Zionist pro-Israel organisation and a vocal opponent of pro-Palestine demonstrations.
“To prioritise its partisan concerns about criticism of Israel over the rights and freedoms of peaceful demonstrators, including many anti-Zionist Jewish organisations, is a troubling departure from impartial policing,” says the letter.
The letter adds to growing pressure on the Metropolitan police over its handling of the pro-Palestine protest. Last week trade union leaders became the latest group to write to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, demanding an independent inquiry into “repressive and heavy-handed policing”.
Their letter followed others by legal experts, MPs and peers and the British Palestinian Committee making the same demand and also calling for a review of the new legislation limiting protest, brought in by the Conservative government.
The letter and signatories can be viewed here.
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IHRC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
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