Over 70 arrested at Palestine protest as crowds attempt to reach the BBC

19 January 2025 , 10:26

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More than 70 people were arrested at a Palestine Solidarity march in central London after protestors were told to use a different route.

The Metropolitan Police had warned the Palestine Solidarity Campaign they were unable to form in Portland Place as usual because it is in the vicinity of a synagogue and the British Broadcasting House.

They were told they must form up in Russell Square and were given a specific route to Whitehall.

Both the PSC and the police agreed they would not hold a march and instead remain in Whitehall for a static protest.

But thousands of demonstrators, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the party’s former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, marched towards Trafalgar Square from Whitehall after speeches were made.

Some 65 people were arrested on suspicion of ‘deliberately’ breaching conditions after breaking through protest barriers into Trafalgar Square to reach the BBC at Portland Place.

Police make an arrest after protesters gather on Whitehall in central London at a National demonstration for Palestine, on January 18, 2025, organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Following the Metropolitan Police preventing a march from the BBC in London because the route passed a synagogue, protesters supporting tdiqtidtriqqdinv

Police make an arrest after protesters gather on Whitehall in central London (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

LONDON, UNITED KINGOM - JANUARY 18: Tens of thousands of Palestine supporters demonstrate despite police banning the previously agreed route and imposing severe restrictions on Whitehall Street, where the Prime Minister’s Office is located in London, United Kingdom on January 18, 2025. (Photo by Aysu Bicer/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Tens of thousands of Palestine supporters demonstrate despite police banning the previously agreed route (Picture: Aysu Bicer/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Protesters gather on Whitehall in central London at a National demonstration for Palestine, on January 18, 2025, organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Following the Metropolitan Police preventing a march from the BBC in London because the route passed a synagogue, protesters supporting

Protesters gather on Whitehall in central London today (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

Others were also arrested on suspicion of sexual assault, assaulting an emergency worker and displaying a swastika.

A full breakdown of arrests includes:

65 x breach of conditions

5 x public order offences

2 x obstructing police

1 x support for a proscribed organisation

1 x inciting racial hatred

1 x common assault

1 x assault on an emergency worker

1 x sexual assault

This marks the highest number over more than 20 national PSC protests since October 2023.

Commander Adam Slonecki, who led the policing operation, said: ‘We have policed more than 20 national protests organised by the PSC since October 2023.

‘This is the highest number of arrests we have seen, in response to the most significant escalation in criminality.

‘We could not have been clearer about the conditions in place. Protesters were to remain in Whitehall with no march towards the BBC.

Protesters holding placards and flags face a line of police on Whitehall in central London at a National demonstration for Palestine, on January 18, 2025, organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Following the Metropolitan Police preventing a march from the BBC in London because the route passed a synagogue, protesters supporting

Protesters holding placards and flags face a line of police (Picture: AFP)

Protesters holding placards and flags face a line of police on Whitehall in central London at a National demonstration. (Picture: AFP)

‘I am quite confident this was a coordinated breach with the intention being to reach the BBC at Portland Place in defiance of the conditions. There is video footage of one of the organisers clearly inciting the crowd to join a march and one of the organisations involved has released a statement this evening confirming as much.

‘At the same time as the group was attempting to force its way past police lines, camera crews were seen arriving in Portland Place. It is unlikely that the timing was simply a coincidence.’

The police described a group of people ‘persistently’ trying to breach conditions.

Campaign Against Antisemitism described the scenes as ‘a dark day for London”‘ adding: ‘Frontline officers acquitted themselves superbly in the face of extremely challenging circumstances, making numerous arrests across central London, but why had they been put in such a dangerous position by their superiors?

A protester holds up a placard behind the police line on Whitehall in central London at a National demonstration for Palestine, on January 18, 2025, organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Following the Metropolitan Police preventing a march from the BBC in London because the route passed a synagogue, protesters supporting

A protester holds up a placard behind the police line (Picture: AFP)

‘The Met’s commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, is learning what happens when you bend over backwards to accommodate extremists for 15 months and then dare to impose a minor restriction.

‘For over a year we have called for these marches to be banned; we reiterated that call yesterday when it was clear that the police would not be able to control the situation.

‘Police authorised a static protest for activists who repeatedly declared, ‘£WeWillMarch’. The result was chaos in London.’

The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) criticised the Met’s decision to block the march, calling it ‘an outrageous assault on democracy, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression’.

Elizabeth Baker

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Metropolitan Police, Palestine, BBC, London