Tens of thousands of pro-Palestine protesters have gathered in Central London to mark two years since the start of the war in Gaza, a day after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect. Photos show a sea of stalls selling keffiyehs and crowds carrying placards reading “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, “it’s not a crime to act against genocide” and “Starmer has blood on his hands, free Palestine”.
A counter-protest by Stop The Hate was expected to take place at the junction of Aldwych and the Strand, with police putting measures in place to try to prevent a clash between the two groups. A “small group” of counter-protesters had breached conditions by demonstrating at the form up area of the pro-Palestine march, leading to a “scuffle between several individuals from the two groups”.
Last weekend, the Government announced that police would be given greater powers to restrict protests by allowing them to consider the “cumulative impact” of repeated demonstrations. Calls for restraint were made following the terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester on October 2 in which two people were killed, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging protesters to “respect the grief of British Jews”.
Protesters shouted “from the rivers to the sea, Palestine will be free” as they marched towards Westminster on Saturday, a chant that Sir Keir has suggested the Government may crack down on. See shots of the action below.
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