Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said protesting on Armistice Day is “provocative and disrespectful” as tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protests are set to march on the day to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
It will be the fifth consecutive Saturday that pro-Palestinian demonstrators have taken to the streets since the Israel–Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7.
The Metropolitan Police said organisers have agreed to avoid the Whitehall area in their marching route. They also said organisers haven’t indicated plans to protest on Remembrance Sunday, when a National Service of Remembrance will be held at the Cenotaph.
But the prime minister said there’s a “clear and present risk” that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be desecrated when protests are going on.
There have also been concerns that protesters may disrupt the two-minute silence, observed at 11 a.m. on every Armistice Day to honour Britain’s war dead, and the daytime and evening Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, with the latter performance usually attended by members of the royal family.
The Met has vowed to “use all the powers available” to prevent any disruptions over the Remembrance weekend.
Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters have taken to the streets in the past three weekends, with an estimated 100,000 people joining the main rally in London.
Main organiser Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) called on demonstrators to join around 50 rallies across the country on Nov. 4 to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and “build for the next national march” on Nov. 11, which is Armistice Day.
Friends of Al-Aqsa, which is preparing to bus protesters from Leicester to London next week, said it expected hundreds of thousands of people to take part in the demonstration, but spokesman Ismail Patel said the march will avoid the Cenotaph.
“We definitely will not be at the Cenotaph. We understand the sensitivity of the date,” he said.
Speaking to “BBC Breakfast” on Friday, security minister Tom Tugendhat, who is a veteran, said he doesn’t believe it’s appropriate to hold a protest on Remembrance weekend next to the Cenotaph. The minister said he had written to London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Westminster City Council, and the Met, asking them to consider “what options they have available.”
The prime minister also weighed in on the protests in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“To plan protests on Armistice Day is provocative and disrespectful, and there is a clear and present risk that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be desecrated, something that would be an affront to the British public and the values we stand for,” Mr. Sunak said.
“The right to remember, in peace and dignity, those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for those freedoms must be protected.”
The prime minister said he had asked Home Secretary Suella Braverman to support the Met Police “in doing everything necessary to protect the sanctity of Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.”
During the PSC rally on previous weekends, the Cenotaph has not been vandalised, although a stage was built beside the memorial during the first march, causing an uproar. Mr. Tugendhat told Sky News at the time that he believes it’s “disgraceful” because the Cenotaph is “sacred ground” to many. The Field Marshal Earl Haig Memorial was found to have been vandalised following a march on Oct. 28.
Met Vows to Stop Disruption
Responding to concerns that the memorial weekend will be disrupted, the Met said officers will be deployed across London on both days “as part of a significant policing and security operation.”“We know that this year, there are concerns about a demonstration by pro-Palestinian campaigners,” the force said in a statement posted on X.
“The protest organisers have not indicated any plans to protest on Remembrance Sunday. They do intend to hold a significant demonstration on the Saturday but they are engaging with our officers and have said they are willing to avoid the Whitehall area, recognising the sensitivities around the date,” it added.
“This is a weekend with huge national significance. We will use all the powers available to us to ensure anyone intent on disrupting it will not succeed.”
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, Commander Karen Findlay, who will be responsible for police operations over the weekend, said the Met has “a significant security and policing operation in place” around Remembrance Day every year, adding that she will request assistance from other forces if necessary.
According to Ms. Findlay, a total of 130 people have been arrested in protests in relation with the war in Gaza. Among the arrested, 26 people have been charged, including “14 concerning allegations of anti-Semitism, six for allegations concerning Islamophobia, a further six are for faith hate, criminal damage, and other matters which are associated under this policing operation.”
Of the 75 people who were bailed, 21 allegations were linked to anti-Semitism and nine allegations to Islamophobia, she said.
The commander also said there has been an increase in so-called hate crime allegations last month.
Since Oct. 1, the force has received 554 crime reports that relate to 657 reports of anti-Semitic incidents, compared to 44 reported offences and 49 incidents during the same period last year.
During the same period, there have been 220 reports of Islamophobic offenses in relation with 230 Islamophobia incidents, compared to 78 offences and 71 incidents last year, she said.
There is no “hate crime” in England’s statute book. The police record any criminal offence which is perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s actual or perceived race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or sexually as a hate crime. Once a defendant is convicted of a crime, the Crown Prosecution Service can ask the court to increase the sentence if the crime has been flagged as a hate crime.
On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists launched surprise missiles and ground attacks against Israel, killing some 1,100 civilians and 300 soldiers and taking over 200 hostages. Thousands were wounded, according to Israeli figures.
Israel declared war the next day, launched torrents of counter strikes, and began ground assaults last week. It has also ordered a siege on the Hamas-controlled enclave.
Met Commissioner: Protests ‘Creating Significant Stretch’
Ms. Findlay also said officers have made 99 arrests this week in relation Just Stop Oil (JSO) protests “in week one of a four-week protracted campaign” by the climate activist group.
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley told the London Assembly on Thursday that protests have been one of the events that the Met has struggled to deal with, including Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and King Charles III’s coronation.
“We’ve had the most extraordinary series of protests, tried to disrupt London unprecedentedly through JSO and others, and now we have a sort of crisis in the Middle East creating lots of trauma for London’s communities and having massive knock on effects that’s requiring enormous amount of policing attention,” he said.
“All of those events bend us out of shape as we try to do day-to-day policing alongside them.”
Sir Mark said he’s “deeply concerned” about the effect of mass protests on local policing across London.
“Clearly, we can’t let these protests get out of hand and we have to have the capacity and resources there, but it is creating significant stretch” that is now “beyond the individual cases,” he said.
“Doing these as one-offs or two-offs is one matter, but this looks like it’s going to be a rolling sustained pattern. There’s more protests this weekend, next weekend, etc. And we’re starting to look at what point we need to look for mutual aid from other forces and change our approach to resourcing this to make it to make it sustainable.”
