Police chief tells pro-Israel group he imposed unprecedented restrictions on Gaza rally

Metropolitan Police (Met) Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley stated that police imposed unprecedented restrictions on a large pro-Palestine rally in London on Saturday, leading to 77 arrests. Organizers estimated that the rally drew over 100,000 participants, with two individuals charged with public order offenses, charges they have denied.

Last November, the Met approved a march route proposed by an organizing coalition from the BBC headquarters to Whitehall, but changed its mind under political pressure. Police stated in early January that the route was too close to two synagogues. Pro-Israel groups, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, members of parliament, and peers had reportedly urged Commissioner Rowley to reroute the protest.

Last week, police took the unusual step of announcing an alternative march route, starting from Russell Square. However, the Met later relented and agreed to a "static protest" in Whitehall. The day after the rally, on Sunday, Rowley spoke at an event hosted by the pro-Israel Board of Deputies of British Jews, stating, "The power to restrict protests is very limited—we've put more restrictions on protests than ever before in terms of time and restrictions, route."

Rowley also stated, "We have to take into account the Human Rights Act, which is the law, and of course the rights of all communities, the rights of protesters and freedom of speech and so on." The Board of Deputies of British Jews supports Israel's war on Gaza and condemned the Labour government's partial arms embargo on Israel in September. The Board was also reportedly among the groups that urged the Met to ban the original route of the pro-Palestine march.

Rowley told the audience that his team had imposed "tighter and tougher conditions" on the organizers of the demonstration and stated that the Met had "taken into account the punitive disruption to communities, particularly to the business community in central London and to the Jewish community." Furthermore, the police chief also criticized the pro-Israel advocacy group, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (Caa), as well as the Muslim Association of Britain (Mab), accusing them of disregarding the "realities of the law" and using "little peak political rhetoric."

Caa accused the Met of "only showing strength when the war is potentially coming to an end," after months of not banning pro-Palestine marches. However, Mab questioned Rowley's impartiality given the Met's engagement with pro-Israel groups. In an open letter to Rowley, Mab said, "It is deeply inappropriate that you are addressing an audience aligned with one side of this issue, celebrating the imposition of ‘tighter and tougher conditions’ on these protests…and raises questions about whether all communities are treated equally under your leadership."

The Met has come under criticism from several British politicians in the past few days, who have accused the police of misrepresenting the protest. The Met accused demonstrators of breaking through police lines at Trafalgar Square on Saturday, but organizers of the protest have strongly denied this claim. Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, stated on Monday after being charged with public order offenses: “It’s clear the political intention was to create scenes of mass disorder to provide a pretext for the Home Secretary to intervene to ban all future marches.”

Jamal also noted, "Despite this attempt, no scenes of mass disorder occurred. This is testament to the extraordinary and steadfast discipline of those who came to protest, even in the face of such provocation." Many British Jews have also refuted the claims that the march threatened the Jewish community. Last week, nearly a thousand British Jews, including prominent legal and cultural figures and Holocaust survivors, signed an open letter urging the Met to lift the ban.

The letter condemned the "orchestrated attempt to interfere with hard-won political freedoms by fabricating a threat to those attending synagogues." The letter also stated: “As Jews, we are appalled at this blatant attempt to interfere with hard-won political freedoms by fabricating a threat to Jewish religious freedom.”