Nearly 2,000 police were deployed in London on Saturday, including officers guarding Britain’s national war memorial, as hundreds of thousands gathered in the UK capital for a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel rally.
Many of the previous demonstrations featured people glorifying Hamas, calls to destroy Israel and antisemitic incidents.
There have also been a number of incidents of pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel chants by crowds using public transportation as they travel to and from the demonstrations.
Police said 1,850 officers were deployed in London for the protest.
“We know the cumulative impact continued protest, increasing tensions and rising hate crimes are having across London and the fear and anxiety our Jewish communities in particular are feeling,” police said in a statement on Friday.
“They have a right to feel safe in their city, knowing they can travel across London without feeling afraid of intimidation or harassment,” police said.
Organizers have predicted that over half a million protesters will attend the event, Sky News reported.
Demonstrators were to gather in Hyde Park before marching to the US Embassy.
Police warned pro-Palestinian protesters that they could be arrested if they try to assemble at the Cenotaph war memorial. The planned route of Saturday’s demonstration does not pass close to the monument, which is steps from Parliament.
The government has criticized organizers for holding a march on November 11, Armistice Day — the anniversary of the end of World War I.
The march is a day before the main Remembrance Sunday commemorations, when King Charles III, senior politicians, diplomats, military leaders and veterans attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Cenotaph war memorial in central London to honor Britain’s war dead in all conflicts.
The Metropolitan Police also said that they were working with forces outside London to ensure that any convoys of vehicles arriving in the capital while waving flags and/or shouting antisemitic abuse will be kept away from Jewish communities, noting that if anyone in a convoy commits an offense, that too will be “dealt with.”
In a statement reported by the BBC, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged on Friday that protesters be “mindful of the fear and distress in Jewish and Muslim communities.”
“Remembrance weekend is sacred for us all and should be a moment of unity, of our shared British values and of solemn reflection,” Sunak said.
London’s The Times reported Saturday that extremist groups would be in attendance at the march, including members of a group seen in a video chanting for an intifada.
The report said the Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) had held events where speakers declared that Israel has no right to exist, and one said: “All they’ve been doing is yapping about hostages, hostages, hostages… In our lifetime, the flag of Palestine will fly over Jerusalem.”
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