We are experiencing further disruption from the Met Police in our planning of the next National demonstration on March 15th.
We informed the Police in writing of our proposed route on Feb 18th and indicated we wished to announce by Feb 25th. We were informed by the Gold Commander that he would expect to complete all assessments to allow us to announce by February 28th. He raised concerns which he said had been submitted by pro-Israel groups including the Board of Deputies, Community Security Trust and the Jewish Leadership Council.
Leaders of the Jewish Bloc have also sought a face-to-face meeting with the Police which to date has still not been agreed.
We are now in a position – 8 days before the march – where the Police are refusing to tell us what conditions they may impose to render illegal any route we announce. We have made clear the impact of this upon those seeking to attend, including a disabled bloc which maps its own accessibility route once it knows the main route, but needs time to do this and advertise it, and likewise for a bloc of parents with young children. We also made clear that for members of the Muslim community knowledge of the end and pick up times are particularly important during Ramadan so they can make plans to break their fast. The Gold Commander admitted to us he had not discussed any of these issues with groups representing the Muslim community.
It seems clear that the Police are delaying a decision as long as possible to impact upon our ability to challenge any conditions imposed. Likewise, it is difficult to draw any other conclusion than that they are hoping to diminish numbers attending by creating obstacles to people planning travel. As organisers, we will continue to use all levers to prevent this stifling of the right to protest.
We will provide further update once it is available. We thank all of our allies including in Parliament who have been active in communicating their concerns to all relevant authorities. Our best response to these attempts to silence us are to continue to refuse to be silenced. As Netanyahu, supported by Trump, threatens to continue the genocide in Gaza and ethnically cleanses over 40,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, we will not be distracted from why we are protesting. Please join us in London on March 15th. In our thousands and our millions, we are all Palestinians.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Palestinian Forum in Britain
Friends of Al-Aqsa
Stop the War Coalition
Muslim Association of Britain
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
