Christians take part in 24th national demonstration for Palestine

Leaving Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church

An estimated 100,000 people took part in the 24th national demonstration for Palestine on Saturday. The police banned the organisers from having a march - but instead they were allowed to hold a 'static rally' in Whitehall.

Christians For Palestine gathered for prayers in Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, before walking to the rally. A statement from the bloc said: "It's been over a year since we started marching together as a Christian bloc at the national ceasefire marches. In that year, we have joined together every few weeks to show our solidarity with the people of Palestine, to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and to call on the UK government to stop sending arms to Israel to support this wicked genocide... 'Speak up for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute'. (Proverbs 31:8)"

The vigil in Whitehall was attended by Jewish, Muslim, Christian and secular groups. Brief addresses were given by an elderly Jewish Holocaust survivor, an anti-Zionist Jewish campaigner, union leaders, PSC director, Ben Jamal, journalist Owen Jones, MPs John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn. Actors Juliet Stevenson and Khalid Abdalla read some poems.

(We'll be bringing you a further report on the speeches soon.)

After the speeches the crowds dispersed peacefully, but some had problems getting out of Whitehall and Trafalgar Square, because the police had blocked the exits. (I had arranged to meet friends in the crypt cafe at St Martin in the Fields, but wasn't allowed out for about half an hour.)

The organisers have issued the following statement explaining what happened after the demonstration ended:

The Metropolitan Police has promoted a misleading narrative about the events in Whitehall and Trafalgar Square, claiming that a peaceful delegation pushed through police lines in an attempt to justify their repressive actions on Saturday 18 January. This could not be further from the truth.

On Saturday 18 January, we organised a rally on Whitehall to call for a permanent end to Israel's genocide in Gaza. Despite our long-standing record of peaceful demonstrations, the police, under political pressure from pro-Israel groups, banned our planned march to the BBC. In response, we announced plans for a rally and a peaceful protest against this anti-democratic ban.

Ahead of the rally, we publicly called on the police to rescind the restrictions they had imposed and allow our march to go ahead. We had also made clear that if they refused to do so we would hold a rally and protest against the ban as part of that rally. The police were fully aware of these statements and our intentions.

On the day, we 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 various 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. We understand that a total of 77 people were arrested on the day, 66 of them for alleged violations of these orders. (ed: nine people have been charged now.)

At the end of the rally, it was announced from the stage that, as an act of protest against the police ban, a delegation of organisers and rally speakers - including an 87-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor, politicians including MPs, and prominent cultural figures - would walk silently and peacefully towards the BBC. It was clearly stated that the delegation expected to be stopped by the police and that no attempt would be made to push through police lines - the delegation would simply leave the flowers they were carrying at the feet of the police and disperse in an orderly and dignified manner. They anticipated being stopped at the line of police that had been constructed at the top of Whitehall.

When the delegation reached this police line, they were not stopped as expected but were instead invited to proceed into Trafalgar Square by the police who said, 'please filter through.' When the delegation reached the other end of the square, they encountered a line of police which prevented them from going any further. They formally requested that the delegation - a maximum of 25 people - be allowed to proceed. The police officer in charge said he would need to 'pass this up the line for a decision.' While the delegation was awaiting that response, the police violently and for no apparent reason arrested the chief steward of the rally, Chris Nineham. At this point, the delegation laid their flowers as they had said they would do and dispersed, and Ben Jamal and Ismail Patel used a megaphone to call on the crowd that had gathered around them to do the same, which people then did. At no stage was there any organised breach of the conditions imposed by the police. There is a large amount of video evidence confirming all of these events.

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.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Palestinian Forum in Britain

Friends of Al-Aqsa

Stop the War Coalition

Muslim Association of Britain

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

LINK

Christians For Palestine: www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61555041637853