Met bans pro-Palestine march from gathering outside BBC headquarters
Scotland Yard imposes Public Order Act owing to proximity of Broadcasting House to a nearby synagogue
Scotland Yard has banned a pro-Palestine march from gathering outside the BBC’s London headquarters next week, owing to its proximity to a synagogue.
Protesters were planning to gather outside Broadcasting House in Portland Place on Saturday before marching to Whitehall. On Thursday evening, police said they had imposed the Public Order Act to prevent the rally from gathering in the area as it risked causing “serious disruption” to a nearby synagogue on the Jewish holy day, as congregants attend Shabbat services.
The Metropolitan police said they had “reflected on the views of local community and business representatives”, including congregation members at a synagogue a “very short distance” from the proposed rally meet-up point, before reaching its decision.
Earlier this week, the force told the protest organisers, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, to alter their plans in order to avoid disruption to worshippers at the synagogue and had threatened to impose the conditions to stop the rally.
In response to the Met’s demand, the PSC said on Wednesday it “utterly condemned” the use of “repressive powers”.
“The Palestine coalition rejects the implication that our marches are somehow hostile to or a threat to Jewish people,” the group had said in a previous statement. “The Met police have acknowledged there has not been a single incident of any threat to a synagogue attached to any of the marches.”
The Central Synagogue on Great Portland Street is a few hundred yards from Broadcasting House on Portland Place.
Thirteen Holocaust survivors and survivor descendants have signed a joint letter to oppose the Met’s decision to prevent the march from gathering outside the BBC.
“We are writing as Jewish Holocaust survivors, and descendants of survivors, to protest against this clear attempt to dissuade people from opposing the Gaza genocide,” the letter reads. “Along with thousands of other openly Jewish protesters, we have attended numerous Palestine demos in London and have received nothing but support and warmth from our fellow demonstrators.”
Commander Adam Slonecki, who is leading the policing operation in London that weekend, said the PSC had refused to change their plans and were “continuing to encourage protesters to form up in Portland Place”, giving the force “no choice but to use the powers available to us”.
He said police had taken into account the “cumulative impact of this prolonged period of protest”, with events often taking place on Saturdays and near synagogues.
“We know this has been a cause of increased concern for many Jewish Londoners who have altered their plans, avoided parts of central London and reduced attendance at religious services,” he said.
“We police without fear or favour and this decision was taken based on a detailed consideration of the evidence, not any outside influence.
“Some of the media coverage today makes reference to a letter sent to us from MPs and peers raising concerns about this protest. I want to be clear that our position was decided and communicated with the PSC prior to us receiving that letter. It had no impact on our decision making.”
The PSC had planned to assemble outside the corporation’s London headquarters for a march to Whitehall in protest against what organisers had described as the “pro-Israel bias” of the BBC’s coverage.
Hmmmm. That bolded protest seems like a defence of something they hadn't been accused of.......no amount of cajolery, and no attempts at ethical or social seduction, can eradicate from my heart a deep burning hatred for the Tory Party...So far as I am concerned they are lower than vermin.
This is the usual attempt at deterring marchers from attending. I'll be at Broadcasting House.
Today we have been informed by the Metropolitan Police that they intend to go back on a previous agreement and impose conditions to prevent us marching from BBC HQ at Portland Place on Saturday 18 January.
We have already announced our intention to assemble outside the BBC to protest against the pro-Israel bias of its coverage – something recently highlighted in a detailed report by journalist Owen Jones to which the Corporation has so far not responded. We utterly condemn this attempt to use repressive powers to prevent our planned protest at the BBC.
The route for the march was confirmed with the police nearly two months ago and, as agreed with them, was publicly announced on 30 November. This route, beginning at the BBC, has only been used twice in the last 15 months of demonstrations and not since February 2024. With just over a week to go, the Metropolitan Police has now reneged on our agreement and stated its intention to prevent our protest from going ahead as planned.
The BBC is a major institution – it is a publicly-funded state broadcaster and is rightly accountable to the public. It is unacceptable for the police to misuse public order powers to shield the BBC from democratic scrutiny.
The excuse offered by the police is that our march could cause disruption to a nearby synagogue. It follows representations from pro-Israel groups and activists who have been publicly calling for action to be taken to curtail our right to protest against Israel’s ongoing genocide. This includes the Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis who has openly celebrated the horrific and criminal actions of the Israeli military in Gaza, describing them as the “most outstanding possible thing that a decent responsible country can do”.
In fact, the closest synagogue to the BBC is not even on the route of the march. Moreover, as the Met Police have acknowledged, there has not been a single incident of any threat to a synagogue attached to any of the marches. Any suggestion that our marches are somehow hostile to Jewish people ignores the fact that every march has been joined by thousands of Jewish people – many in an organised Jewish bloc – and addressed by Jewish speakers on the demonstration platforms. Representatives of the Jewish bloc have written to the police seeking a meeting to express their concerns that the police are choosing to listen solely to pro-Israel Jewish voices, but they have not had any response.
We firmly reject any attempt to suppress our right to campaign for an end to Israel’s genocidal violence and decades long violations of the rights of the Palestinian people. In the past few weeks, Israel has intensified its indiscriminate attacks including against hospitals and civilians sheltering in so-called ‘humanitarian safe zones.’ It is this and the ongoing complicity of the British government in these crimes that continues to bring people onto the streets in huge numbers. Our marches represent a diverse cross section of the public including the Palestinian community, many of whom are relatives of those killed by Israel.
We remain in dialogue with the Metropolitan Police but call on them to immediately abandon their intention to prevent our protest at the BBC. We call on all those who are rightly outraged by Israel’s ongoing genocide and those who uphold the democratic right to protest to join us when we march in London on Saturday 18 January.
The Metropolitan police have banned the anti-genocide march on Jan 18 from gathering near the BBC. The ban will apply to all future marches too.
The coercive wing of the state is protecting its propaganda wing, which in turn is shielding its political wing, so the UK's complicity in genocide goes unscrutinised.