Police block pro-Palestine protest from gathering close to London synagogue
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The Metropolitan Police have blocked an upcoming pro-Palestine march from gathering near a synagogue in central London. Protesters targeting the BBC were planning to gather outside Broadcasting House in Portland Place on Saturday January 18 before marching to Whitehall.
On Thursday evening, police said they had imposed conditions under the Public Order Act to prevent the rally from gathering in the area as it risked causing “serious disruption” to a nearby synagogue on a Saturday, the Jewish holy day, as congregants attend Shabbat services.
The Met said it had “reflected on the views of local community and business representatives”, including congregation members at a synagogue a “very short distance” from the proposed rally meet-up point, before reaching its decision. Earlier this week, the force told the protest organisers, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), to alter their plans to avoid disruption to worshippers at the synagogue and had threatened to impose the conditions to stop the rally.
In response to the Met’s demand, the PSC said on Wednesday it “utterly condemned” the use of “repressive powers”. “The Palestine coalition rejects the implication that our marches are somehow hostile to or a threat to Jewish people. “The Met Police have acknowledged there has not been a single incident of any threat to a synagogue attached to any of the marches,” the group added in a previous statement.
Commander Adam Slonecki, who is leading the policing operation in London that weekend, said the PSC had refused to change their plans and were “continuing to encourage protesters to form up in Portland Place”, giving the force “no choice but to use the powers available to us”.
