Leading anti-war campaigners and scores of other protesters were arrested last weekend as the police moved to break up a massive Palestinian solidarity demonstration in central London. The rally in Whitehall was called after the Metropolitan Police, under Zionist pressure, banned a planned march on the BBC claiming it would cause serious disruption to services at a nearby synagogue.
In response, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) announced plans for a rally and a peaceful protest against this anti-democratic ban. On the day the demonstrators were confronted with extremely heavy-handed and aggressive policing. With less than 24 hours’ notice, the police had imposed a series of complex restrictions preventing people from assembling at various points on Whitehall at different times of the day – notably an area at the centre of Whitehall from which rally participants were excluded for part of the day to allow space for a children’s marching band to proceed up and down. As a result a number of people were arrested, without warning, on flimsy pretexts including simply for inadvertently standing in this central area at the wrong time.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, a maverick Labour MP, were issued cautions by the Met and interviewed on Sunday. Chris Nineham, the vice-chair of the Stop the War campaign, was dragged off with 76 others and though Nineham and some of the others have been bailed others remain in custody. Nine have been charged with public order offences including PSC director Ben Jamal and Jeremy Corbyn’s brother, Piers.
Ben Jamal said he would "vigorously contest" the charges against him and described the scenes on Saturday as "a huge assault on the right to freedom of assembly and to protest".
The Met claim the protesters had forced their way through a police cordon to march towards the headquarters of the BBC after ending their 100,000 strong protest in Whitehall. But Corbyn said “this is not an accurate description of events at all. I was part of a delegation of speakers, who wished to peacefully carry and lay flowers in memory of children in Gaza who had been killed.This was facilitated by the police. We did not force our way through. When we reached Trafalgar Square, we informed police that we would go no further, lay down flowers and disperse. At that point the Chief Steward, Chris Nineham, was arrested. We then turned back and dispersed. I urge the police to release all bodycam footage and retract its misleading account of events”.
Stop the War national officer John Rees said “this is a direct assault on freedom of assembly and democracy. The police’s actions, including their false statements after the event, are deeply troubling. We demand the immediate release of all those arrested and remain resolute in our campaign for freedom and justice for the Palestinian people”.
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