Met Police detain hundreds as London pro-Palestinian rally turns volatile
UK Secretary of State for Housing Michael Gove mobbed by pro-Palestinian protesters.
By DANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD, REUTERSUpdated: NOVEMBER 12, 2023 08:05Police officers react during clashes with protesters and counter-protesters on the day of a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in London, Britain, November 11, 2023.(photo credit: Hannah McKay/Reuters)
The Metropolitan Police detained 150 pro-Palestinian protesters who deviated from the agreed route on Saturday evening, they announced in an X post. Many of the group members wore face coverings and fired rockets in heavily populated areas.
The detainment was carried out as footage online shows the protests turning increasingly violent.
Officers have detained a breakaway group of around 150 people from the pro-Palestinian demonstration in Grosvenor Place. The group were firing fireworks and many are wearing face coverings. Officers are using their Section 60 and 60AA powers to detain and search those involved. pic.twitter.com/4P1yzpFQcD
UK Secretary of State Michael Gove was mobbed by pro-Palestinian protesters Saturday afternoon in a London train station, according to footage circulated by journalists online.
Gove was protected by a group of Metropolitan Police Officers as protesters attempted to swarm the Secretary of State while chanting “Shame on you!”
Police officers react during clashes with protesters and counter-protesters on the day of a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in London, Britain, November 11, 2023. (credit: Hannah McKay/Reuters)
Pro-Palestinian protests in London
More than 300,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London, with police arresting nearly 100 counter-protesters to stop them ambushing the main rally. One
Images and videos shared online show antisemitic and terrorist imagery going untreated in the demonstrations. One such video shows a man yelling into a microphone "Khayber Khayber ya yahud jaish al Mohammed sauf yaud," which refers to a massacre of Jews by an Islamic army.
ANTISEMITIC HATE CRIMECries of "Khayber Khayber ya yahud jaish al Mohammed sauf yaud" This is an anti Jewish hate crime @metpoliceukpic.twitter.com/hsrteSWoNm
Video footage has also shown a man being assaulted for holding a sign reading "October 7 genocide. Hamas ISIS."
My twelve year old son and I were round the corner from here doing the shopping when this would have happened. My thanks to Mark Rowley are hard to put into words. pic.twitter.com/7Fn7trBxOQ
Skirmishes broke out between police and some groups that had also descended on the capital as the Palestinian demonstration clashed with Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War I, when Britain commemorates its war dead.
Incidents continued throughout the day, with police in riot gear trying to contain protesters near the House of Commons, in train stations, and in side streets, with footage showing police officers with batons working to control the crowds.
Some protesters threw bottles and metal barriers at officers in what the force described as "unacceptable violence."
London's Met Police said later it had arrested 82 counter-protesters in a move designed to keep the peace. Another 10 arrests were made for other offenses.
Pro-Palestinian protesters could be heard chanting "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," a rallying cry that is viewed by many Jews as antisemitic and a call for Israel's eradication.
Others carried banners reading "Free Palestine," "Stop the Massacre" and "Stop Bombing Gaza."
