A march planned for Sunday has become the first protest to be banned in the UK capital city for more than a decade
A pro-Palestinian march planned for Sunday has been banned by the UK government “to prevent serious public disorder”, in a shock move not seen for nearly 15 years in London.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood approved the request, made by London’s Metropolitan Police, to ban the annual Al Quds Day march in London after the annually held pro-Palestine march drew criticism over apparent backing for the Iranian regime.
It is understood the march’s organisers expressed support for Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who founded Al Qud’s Day after the 1979 Iranian Revolution to show support for Palestinians and to oppose the influence of Israeli, Western, and Zionist cultures.
Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings. Several counter-protests had also been planned for the day.
Announcing her decision to ban the march, Ms Mahmood said she was “satisfied doing so is necessary to prevent serious public disorder, due to the scale of the protest and multiple counter-protests, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East”. She added: “Should a stationary demonstration proceed, the police will be able to apply strict conditions.
“I expect to see the full force of the law applied to anyone spreading hatred and division instead of exercising their right to peaceful protest.”
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), which organises the protest, has previously insisted the demonstration is always “good natured and peaceful”. It is the first time a protest march has been banned since 2012.
The Metropolitan Police said previous Al Quds Day marches resulted in arrests for supporting terrorist organisations and antisemitic hate crimes. In a statement, the force said: “The decision to ban it this year is purely based on a risk assessment of this specific protest and counter-protests – we do not police taste or decency or prefer one political view over another, but we will do everything we can to reduce violence and disorder.”
The Met said the “uniquely complex” international situation and “severe” risks meant merely placing conditions on the protest “will not be sufficient to prevent it from resulting in serious public disorder”. It added that it would place “strict conditions” on any static protest, which the law does not allow the police or Government to ban, but “given the tensions, we have to accept that confrontations could still take place”.
The decision follows calls from Labour and Conservative MPs to ban the march. Earlier on Tuesday, courts minister Sarah Sackman said people expressing support for “the malign regime in Iran” should not be “on the streets of London calling for hate and hostility against this country”. Shadow Home Office minister Alicia Kearns also called for the march to be cancelled, saying there was “no place in our country for the celebration of terrorists”.
A spokesman for the IHRC, Faisal Bodi, told the BBC ’s The World Tonight that it was “a sad day for freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the right of people to legitimately protest about issues they feel strongly about”. He added: “This demonstration has taken place for the last 40 years peacefully.”
The IHRC has previously expressed support for Iran’s former supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Following his death in a US-Israeli airstrike last month, the group said Mr Khamenei “chose to stand on the right side of history” and described him as “a rare role model” who would be “mourned by freedom loving people all over the world ”.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomed the decision to ban the march, saying it was “a positive development” and adding: “Allowing this hate-fest to go ahead would have sent the message that Islamists rule the roost in Britain.”
