The PSC has accused the Met Police of "extremely heavy-handed and aggressive policing"
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn have criticised the police for promoting “a misleading narrative” about a pro-Palestine protest over the weekend.
Corbyn challenged the Metropolitan Police’s claim that protestors had broken through the police line, stating it was “not an accurate description of events at all”.
Approximately 77 protestors were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of breaching protest conditions. Nine have been charged with breaching protest conditions under the Public Order Act.
The first day of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire began yesterday after 15 months of conflict, with three women hostages released from Gaza and 90 Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons in return.
Before the demonstration, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) accused the police of imposing “repressive conditions” that barred protesters from marching to the BBC to protest against the “pro-Israel bias” of its coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The police said the reason for not allowing the march to take place outside the BBC was that it could cause disruption to a nearby synagogue.
During the protest on Saturday, the Met Police posted on X stating: “The group that forced its way through the police line is now held at the north west corner of Trafalgar Square.
“Anyone in that group should now disperse and leave the area. Anyone remaining in breach of the conditions, or inciting further breaches, will be arrested.”
In a statement on X, the PSC said its director, Ben Jamal, had asked a small group, including John McDonnell MP, Jeremy Corbyn, and Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos, to peacefully approach police lines to request permission to lay flowers at the BBC.
The statement added that Jamal said the delegation would stop and lay flowers at the police’s feet if they were prevented from proceeding to the BBC.
Video footage of the march shows the police saying the group could go through.
According to the PSC, Chris Nineham, the chief steward of the march and a founding member of Stop the War, then requested that the group be allowed to continue to the BBC but was “violently arrested by police”.
The PSC said they “were confronted with extremely heavy-handed and aggressive policing” at the march, and that with less than 24 hours’ notice, police imposed “complex restrictions” preventing people from assembling at various locations in Whitehall at various times of the day.
They said that as a result people were “arrested without warning, on flimsy pretexts including simply for inadvertently standing in this central area at the wrong time”.
Corbyn said in a post on X that he was part of a delegation of speakers “who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of children in Gaza who had been killed”.
“This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through.”
“When we reached Trafalgar Square, we informed police that we would go no further, lay down flowers and disperse.”
“At that point, the chief steward, Chris Nineham was arrested. We then turned back and dispersed.”
Corbyn added: “I urge the police to release all bodycam footage and retract its misleading account of events.”
McDonnell also called on the Metropolitan Police to share footage of him having a conversation with a police officer about the group’s intentions at the march.
Both Corbyn and McDonnell agreed to be interviewed under police caution about events at Saturday’s protest. Left Foot Forward understands that the police interviews took place yesterday afternoon.
The Met Police said conditions were put in place “after taking into account the cumulative impact of the prolonged period of protest on Jewish Londoners, particularly when protests are in the vicinity of synagogues often on Saturdays, the Jewish holy day”.
The statement said that during the protest “officers saw a coordinated effort to breach these conditions which prevented protestors forming up in the vicinity of a synagogue located a short distance from Portland Place.
“This is despite the PSC agreeing to a static protest and numerous updates from the Met to protestors prior to the march and on the day.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 117 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.