Met police accused of stopping pro-Palestine marches outside BBC HQ

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Met police accused of stopping pro-Palestine marches outside BBC HQ
Author: Daniel Boffey Chief reporter
Published: Jan, 08 2025 19:31

Organisers say they were told their protests risked causing ‘serious disturbance’ due to proximity of a synagogue. The Metropolitan police have been accused of in effect banning major pro-Palestine marches outside the BBC’s Broadcasting House headquarters in London.

Organisers of regular demonstrations over the events in Gaza said they had been told that a Saturday protest risked “serious disturbance” of Shabbat services at a nearby synagogue. Ben Jamal, the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), said Saturday was the traditional day of the pro-Palestine demonstrations as it allowed people from across the country to attend.

“On Sunday, the transport situation is terrible and so Saturday is the day we demonstrate,” he said. “The police are effectively stopping us from staging pro-Palestine protests outside the BBC.”. The row highlights the difficulties facing the Met, whose commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, was accused last month by the chief rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, of failing to ensure British Jews feel safe after the force permitted pro-Palestinian protests to take place near synagogues.

The Central Synagogue on Great Portland Street is a few hundred yards from Broadcasting House on Portland Place. A Met spokesperson said officers had taken into account the “cumulative effect” of the regular London marches on the capital’s Jewish community.

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