Over 1,000 London Jewish and pro-Israel counter-protesters on Thursday evening ran off a smaller contingent of anti-Israel activists who had attempted to demonstrate against the screening of an October 7 Massacre documentary.
Members and supporters of the heavily Jewish Finchley district rallied around the Phoenix Cinema on Thursday after it had been vandalized the night before for screening Supernova: The Music Festival Massacre as part of the Seret International Israeli Film Festival.
UK Jewish organizations published on social media videos of protesters waving Israeli and British flags as anti-Israel activists retreated.
Community Security Trust, which secured the protest in cooperation with local law enforcement, said that the counter-rally was "a notable show of community pride, strength and resilience."
Sussex Friends of Israel said on X that the protest happened after the Jewish community's rising frustration with authorities' handling of rising antisemitism and pro-Hamas rallies.
"They shall not pass," said Sussex Friends. "The mask and kaffiyeh salesman went home skint from Finchley tonight."
Moving protesters to designated areas
The Metropolitan Police said that at one point they had to move demonstrators to designated areas to allow them to continue to protest.
"We recognize how people are feeling vulnerable due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and the impact continued protests are having on our communities," said Barnet Neighborhood Policing Head superintendent Lorraine Busby-McVey.
Supporters of the cinema also raised 10,500 pounds on the JustGiving platform by Friday morning to clean and repair the damage caused by the vandalism, exceeding the initial target several times over.
The counter-protest gathered momentum after London Creatives Corporate Watchdog activists allegedly graffitied the cinema on Wednesday night. LCCW posted a video of the vandalism, and Culture Workers Against Genocide (CWAG) confirmed that the BDS group was responsible. The Met told The Jerusalem Post that they were investigating the incident as a potential hate crime, but no arrests had been made as of Thursday.
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"The Phoenix Cinema was given a makeover in response to their decision to host the Israeli government sponsored Seret film festival," said LCCW. "This is an attempt to ‘artwash' the state of Israel in London."
British directors Ken Loach and Mike Leigh resigned as patrons of the venue in protest of the hosting of the Israeli film, the Guardian reports on Thursday. Palestine Solidarity Campaign Brixton claimed on Wednesday that the directors were joined by cinema staff in objecting to the screening.
The Phoenix Cinema responded to opposition to the screening on Thursday, saying that because they are an independent cinema they should "uphold freedom of expression and want to show difficult content."
"For the sake of clarity, we would be equally supportive of a difficult Palestinian film because, as a charity, we do not take sides," said the cinema. "While some of our audience may not agree with this screening, we consider others will be very supportive and would have been dismayed if we had refused to host Seret this year."