Protest on 7th October attack anniversary cannot be banned according to Metropolitan Police
The protest has instead been placed under strict conditions
Police have said they cannot ban a pro-Palestine march planned for the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attacks but have repeated their plea to demonstrators not to go ahead with it.
A group of students calling themselves the University of London Coalition are expected to march in the capital on Wednesday.
A social media post by organisers urged people to “take to the street and demand an end to the Palestinian genocide”.
The Metropolitan Police said it has imposed “robust” conditions on the protest.
These include requiring the group to form up Lincoln’s Inn Fields by 12.30pm, take a prescribed route to Russell Square, and complete the rally by 2pm, at which point participants must disperse.
Last week, the Met said students were expected to march from King’s College London in the Strand to University College London in Holborn, but the conditions imposed will require them to be further from the university campuses.
Demonstrators must not wear a face covering which conceals their identity, with the force saying anyone who breaches these conditions can be arrested.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman, who leads Met Operations including public order policing, said the event’s date “will be a day of mourning and reflection for many in London”, and acknowledged the “serious concerns that this event has caused Jewish communities in particular”.
He added: “I would like to take this opportunity – again – to call on anyone intending to join this march to please reflect on the impact and distress it will cause on this very significant date, and exercise your right to protest on a different day.”
He said while there have been calls for the event to be banned, the risk of serious disorder is not considered high enough for that to happen on this occasion.
“We hear the calls for this event to be banned,” he said. “The police cannot ban protests and can only ask the Home Secretary to do so if the risk of serious disorder is so high that it can’t be managed by conditions.
“That high bar is not met here.”
Mr Harman said the “stringent conditions” imposed on the demonstration “will help us manage the event and minimise serious disruption”.
He added: “Anyone who breaches these conditions or commits offences should be under no illusion they will face arrest.
“We have zero tolerance for hate crime and those who chant or display placards calling for intifada or encourage unlawful extremism will be arrested.”
Police said they had tried to make contact with organisers but had been unable to identify anyone to take responsibility for organisation of the march.
Last week, the Met said it had attempted to contact organisers to ask them to hold the demonstration on a different day and had written to the four universities the students attend, asking them to “take all reasonable steps to ensure activity on their premises does not create an environment in which Jewish students or staff feel excluded, targeted or unsafe”.
Shortly after the Met’s conditions were published, a social media post on the march organisers’ page read: “The march is happening tomorrow! Join us to fight for a liberated Palestine!”
Education Secretary Lucy Powell called on the student march organisers “to show compassion and respect for others by moving it” to another date.
She added that universities should take “a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitic abuse, backed by robust disciplinary policies”.
Ms Powell said: “The anniversary of October 7 will bring immense pain to Jewish communities across the country, and they should be able to remember those affected by the attacks free from intimidation, harassment, or abuse – including on university campuses.”
She said while “the right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and everyone is entitled to their political views, it must be exercised lawfully” and added that all Jewish students should feel safe on campus.
Lord Walney, a former independent adviser on political violence and disruption, branded the demo “despicable”, telling LBC it is “deliberately provocative” and “grossly distasteful”.