'We urge the Metropolitan police to avoid causing disruption and accept that the march should go ahead at the normal, planned time and from Pall Mall as announced.'
Activists are rallying in London today, September 7, for the latest National March for Palestine. The demonstrators are calling on the UK government to take decisive action to stop what they describe as genocide, end arms sales to Israel, oppose the broader conflict in the Middle East, and combat Islamophobia.
The march was originally scheduled to start at noon in central London, but organisers have raised concerns that the Metropolitan Police are planning to impose restrictions. This includes delaying the march’s start time by one hour and 45 minutes, now set for 2:30pm, and denying the activists access to Pall Mall as their assembly point.
In a joint press release issued by the PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) and signed by several pro-Palestinian groups and MPs such as Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, and Jeremy Corbyn, the police are criticised for failing to provide reasons for these changes after cancelling a meeting to discuss the event.
“Changing the start time of the demonstration, which is marching to the Israeli Embassy, from the normal 1pm to 2.30pm is completely unpractical and will cause major problems, especially for people coming from outside London. The organisers first informed the police of their plans on 8 August, more than three weeks ago. We worry that these kind of delays and late challenges and conditions to the plans of what are entirely peaceful demonstrations are forming a pattern. We urge the Metropolitan police to avoid causing disruption and accept that the march should go ahead at the normal, planned time and from Pall Mall as announced,” reads the statement.
Today’s march is the latest in a series of pro-Palestine protests that have swept across the country since the October 7 attack by Hamas militants on Israel. This attack resulted in around 12,000 deaths and the taking of 250 hostages. In response, Israel’s military actions in Gaza have led to the deaths of tens of thousands, mostly civilians.
The demonstrations have drawn large crowds throughout Britain, all calling for an end to the ongoing conflict. On July 7, hundreds of thousands gathered in London, urging the government to take immediate action to end the violence in Gaza and to stop supplying arms to Israel.
Pressure on the UK government to suspend arms sales to Israel has grown, especially under the leadership of Keir Starmer. The devastation in Gaza has posed a significant political challenge for Starmer, as some voters have distanced themselves from the Labour Party due to its position on Israel’s actions. In the general election, independent pro-Palestinian candidates made historic gains, with five being elected and many others narrowly missing victory.
On September 2, the government suspended approximately 30 of the 350 weapons export licenses to Israel. While the PSC welcomed this move, they deemed it insufficient and vowed to continue pushing the government to apply international law principles to all export licenses.
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