Dozens of pro-Palestine demonstrators were arrested late last night after activists clashed with police on Whitehall and outside Parliament.
The Metropolitan Police were forced to act after the protest’s turnout “significantly exceeded the estimates of the organisers”, with protest group the Palestine Solidarity Campaign claiming over 10,000 people had come to demand a ceasefire in Gaza.
The “vast majority” of demonstrators left at the organised time, but when the protest began to spill over its designated bounds, the thousands-strong remainder began to clash with riot police as roads in the heart of Westminster were temporarily shut down.
The Met said 40 people were arrested for “offences including breaching Public Order Act conditions, obstructing the highway and assaulting emergency workers”.
The Met said 40 demonstrators were arrested
X/MPS Westminster
Police also confirmed that three officers were injured as a result of the fracas, with one officer sustaining a serious injury to the face after a bottle was thrown at her from the crowd.
The Met Police’s Westminster division said officers had instigated a condition requiring the protest to end at 8pm – but a few hundred activists stayed past the cut-off, despite being told “number of times by officers that they [were] now in breach of conditions to finish their protest”.
A “breakaway group” then made it to Bridge Street – the road leading past Big Ben to Westminster Bridge – and were detained after “continually [refusing] to comply with conditions which required the protest to finish by 8pm” and obstructing the highway.
Police said that just before 10pm, “officers wearing protective equipment began a series of arrests, going into the crowd and extracting those suspected of leading the breakaway protest.”
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Police were eventually able to clear the crowd from Bridge Street
MPS Westminster
Police had issued a Section 35 Dispersal Order, which gives officers the power to exclude a person from an area for a period of up to 48 hours, across Westminster.
Then, just before 2am this morning, the Met said “all remaining protesters have now been dealt with and Bridge Street has been reopened”.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign said demonstrators had gathered in the wake of an Israeli missile strike in Rafah, a city in Gaza, which killed dozens of Palestinian civilians – as well as a number of Hamas figures.
The group called on activists to “join us as we demand our government take action”, and protested outside Downing Street, stating they were sending a message “to all political parties” of “no ceasefire, no vote” ahead of the July 4 General Election.
Jeremy Corbyn addressed the crowd before things got out of hand; the disgraced former Labour leader told attendees to “ask the question of anyone who wants to hold public office, are you going to be a voice to end the arms trade with Israel?”.
The protests erupted on the same day as three Western nations – Spain, Norway and the Republic of Ireland – all officially recognised the state of Palestine.
And the recognitions themselves immediately followed continued Israeli action in Rafah; reacting to the news, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who has faced calls from the left of his party to adopt a tougher line on Israel, said: “It’s horrifying to see that… I’ve been saying for some time the Rafah offensive should not take place.
“I was shocked by what I saw overnight, I think any human being would be shocked by what they saw. It’s got to stop.”
Source Agencies
