Pro-Palestinian protesters march from the Bank of England to Parliament Square to call for a permanent cease-fire and end of the siege of Gaza during the ‘National March for Palestine’ event in London on Saturday. Photo by Tolga Akmen/EPA-EFE
At least nine people were arrested Saturday at a pro-Palestinian march in London attended by thousands, the Metropolitan Police Service confirmed following the demonstration.
Police deployed around 1,700 officers to the streets of London as thousands of demonstrators marched from the city’s commercial center to Westminster. Advertisement
Demonstrators pushed a large, 12-foot puppet of a Syrian child refugee through the streets during the march.
| Updates on today's protest, setting off from Bank junction at around 12.30pm, will be posted on this thread.
1,700 officers are on duty today to keep people safe and to deal with any offences.
| Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor is leading the operation. pic.twitter.com/Zmsqm3I5ko— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) January 13, 2024
“Amal is a Syrian child. She’s 10. She’s a representation of refugee children everywhere,” Walk With Amal artistic director Amir Nizar Zuabi told The Guardian.
The march was part of a larger demonstration across 30 countries calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. It was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
Amid the ongoing Israeli military campaign, the situation in the Palestinian enclave was described as a “catastrophe” by the U.N. Security Council Friday. Advertisement
Demonstrators also called for a halt to jointly-conducted British and U.S. airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen. The strikes are in response to ongoing Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, and left five dead and six injured Thursday.
Two of the arrests in London Saturday were for “offensive placards,” police confirmed in a post on X.
Another was for “possession of stickers to be used for criminal damage. All were arrested under Britain’s Terrorism Act.
Saturday’s march was the seventh similar pro-Palestinian demonstration on a national level held in London after attacks by the militant group Hamas in southern Israel last fall.
The Oct. 7 attacks left around 1,300 Israelis dead and more than 240 kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
Gaza official said late last week the death toll in the area of nearly 2 million people was approaching 23,000 as the Israeli military campaign continued.
