Protesters arrested in Trafalgar Square after breaking police line on march

Pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested in Trafalgar Square on suspicion of breaching protest conditions after demonstrators broke through a police line as they marched from a rally in Whitehall.

Saturday’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) protest was adjusted to be a static rally after police curtailed organisers’ plans for a march past the BBC and near a synagogue.

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 at the rally.

Protesters met a line of police officers and eventually broke through, with those who made it to the square later finding themselves being held in one corner.

Demonstration

The Metropolitan Police warned the group to disperse or face arrest, later announcing: “Around 20 to 30 people who breached the conditions are still contained in Trafalgar Square. They are being arrested.

“Others have already been arrested.”

One masked activist stood on top of a police car waving a Palestine flag.

Members of the public found themselves caught up in the demonstration. One person who asked a police officer why people could not move was told: “Because it’s an illegal march at the moment.”

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”.

“Silencing peaceful protesters who stand against genocide and in solidarity with the oppressed is not only undemocratic but shameful,” the MAB said in a statement.

The Metropolitan Police warned the group to disperse or face arrest.

“The group that forced its way through the police line is now held at the north-west corner of Trafalgar Square,” the force said in a post on X.

“Anyone in that group should now disperse and leave the area. Anyone remaining in breach of the conditions, or inciting further breaches, will be arrested.”

The warning follows the arrest of eight people at the rally earlier on Saturday.

Arrests

A man was arrested on suspicion of holding a placard suggesting support for banned organisations, while four people were arrested on suspicion of public order offences and three others on suspicion of breaching conditions put in place for the protest.

One of the conditions prevents anyone involved in the protest from entering a specific area around Portland Place.

At the rally, The Crown star Khalid Abdalla said in an address: “Tomorrow phase one of the ceasefire begins. It remains to be seen if the ceasefire will hold or if the blood shed since it was announced augurs what it will become.

“But still we will have cause to celebrate whatever its shape for the respite in this genocide, for the return of the hostages, for the release of prisoners.”

The actor, who played Dodi Al-Fayed in the series, continued: “But while we do so we must be clear, tomorrow is already yesterday’s nightmare.

“A ceasefire is normally a situation in which warring parties return to peace when the bombs stop falling but for Palestinians, at best, this ceasefire is a continuation of occupation and apartheid.”

Before Saturday, the Met denied putting a “ring of steel” around Broadcasting House as the force said officers would be posted nearby after preventing plans by protesters targeting the BBC to gather in Portland Place.

The force blocked the march from gathering there due to Broadcasting House’s close proximity to a synagogue and the risk the protest could cause “serious disruption” to the Jewish holy day, as congregants attend Shabbat services.

The protest was adjusted to be a static rally in Whitehall instead.

A 61-year-old woman was arrested on Friday on suspicion of inciting others to breach Public Order Act conditions after she was allegedly heard at a rally on January 10 encouraging other protesters to do so, according to police.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said ahead of the rally that more than 1,100 officers were due to be deployed, with 200 coming from other forces.

Ring of steel

He denied that the Met was putting a ring of steel around Broadcasting House, saying he would instead describe it as “a visible presence of officers in and around the BBC/Portland Place area and surrounding streets”.

On Thursday, senior Conservative MP Bob Blackman said those who defy police orders by deliberately gathering outside a synagogue should face the “full force of the law”.

The PSC described the Met’s conditions as “repressive” and called for the force to lift them.

In a statement, the Campaign Against Antisemitism claimed pro-Palestine marches posed a “threat” to synagogues.

A spokesperson said: “It is shameful that the Met has refused to act on that threat all this time and is mustering a show of strength only now that it appears that the war might be ending.

“The least that it can do is see this tokenistic gesture through and finally limit these marches to static protests, as we have been urging for over a year.”