A demanding year of protest: public order events linked to the conflict in the Middle East

Chris Hobbs reflects on a challenging year of public order protests linked to the Hamas terrorist attacks and the resultant war in Gaza.

This Saturday (tomorrow), the public order treadmill begins again in London after a festive break welcomed by officers from the Met and their British Transport and City of London police partners.

Yet another large pro-Palestine protest is scheduled and has already become controversial. There will also, almost certainly, again be a counter-protest by pro-Israelis. At the time of writing the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) are complaining that the Met are imposing conditions which prevents them from beginning their march in Portland Place by the BBC Television Centre. The reason for this meeting point is so that protesters can make their feelings known in respect of alleged BBC bias in favour of Israel. Accordingly, the PSC are now stating that their march will begin in Whitehall and conclude at the BBC; or presumably as close as police cordons and steel barriers will allow. Negotiations continue.

However, situated in the vicinity of Portland Place is a synagogue, and Jewish groups have complained of potential intimidation on their day of worship. Palestinian groups have stated that they have gathered in Portland Place in advance of previous demonstrations without any issues and that is fact. However, before Christmas, which this year also coincided with the Jewish celebration of Chanukah, Palestinian protesters outraged Jewish groups when they disrupted a purely religious Chanukah event located at a London Jewish community centre. This may have influenced the Met’s decision.

Generally well ordered

In actual fact, despite the controversy surrounded them, these large, well-attended pro-Palestinian ‘national’ protests have seen little physical disorder. They normally follow a routine procedure of marching from one place to another with a rally being held at the final destination. The march usually passes a static pro-Israeli counter-protest which is well policed and the two sides predictably hurl insults at each other. Another feature of the protests is the effective stewarding; pro-Palestinian stewards form a protective barrier in front of the Israeli protest. Behind them are steel barriers and a cordon of police.

Over previous months, an additional burden has been placed upon police in terms of complaints and allegations from both sides concerning offensive and possibly illicit placards and chants.

Officers frequently not only have to deal with allegations but are the subject of complaints unless they take immediate action, such as running after the alleged miscreant, with shoulder numbers being noted. The fact that they will often communicate details of the allegation via their radio so it can be dealt with by colleagues further along the route, does little to placate the individuals complaining.

Emanating from these protests are allegations of ‘two tier’ policing in that the police are ‘soft’ on the Palestine protests which are described as consisting of rampaging, out of control mobs who terrorise law abiding shoppers and tourists in Central London. In fact, as stated above, the Saturday protests have seen little physical disorder but there have been arrests for offences in relation, primarily, to the above-mentioned actionable chants and placards. Tourists and shoppers actually emerge from shops, pubs and restaurants in order to capture events on their smart phones and show little sign of being intimidated.

Soft or heavy handed?

Interestingly, whilst there have been allegations of soft ‘two tier’ policing in respect of these protests from those on the right, leftist and Islamic groups have complained of both ‘heavy handed’ policing and ‘police racism.’

Pro-Palestine protests in 2023 from the 7th of October were far more problematic for officers in terms of groups of youths who, albeit infrequently, threw fireworks at the police and, at the conclusion of the rally, went on ‘walkabouts’ involving several hundred individuals which resulted in conflict with police and arrests. The strict imposition of conditions in 2024 appears to have ended this practise and groups have dispersed at the ‘witching hour’ when requested to do so by police.

Whilst the 2024 Saturday marches have resulted in allegations of antisemitism, it is worth noting that at each march and rally there is a sizeable ‘Jewish bloc’ of several hundred who are protesting against the level of violence used in the conflict by the Israeli Defence Force. Also present are Jews dressed in orthodox fashion from the group, Neturei Karta who are a pro-Palestine, anti-Zionist Haredi group. They are welcomed by pro-Palestinian protesters but are despised by most Jews.

Whilst the numbers at the 2023 November the 11th protest were estimated by police at 300,000, these have reduced now to around 10,000; still an impressive number considering the frequency of the protests.

Splinter groups

Whilst the major national PSC marches have been relatively free of disorder but not of controversy, it has been the smaller actions by splinter groups together with so called emergency protests that have caused problems for the police.

After a recent major Saturday protest, youthful members affiliated to Youth Demand and Palestine Action took police by surprise by materialising on Tower Bridge and blocking the traffic for a short time whilst igniting flares.

An ‘emergency,’ mid-week protest in Whitehall saw several hundred protesters leave the designated protest area before causing problems in Whitehall which resulted in a ‘force mobilisation’ by the Met which meant rushing officers to the scene from across London. In all 40 arrests were made and several officers assaulted.

Youth Demand; the Palestine arm of Just Stop Oil, publicised a gathering in Victoria Gardens by the Embankment with the intention of disrupting the State Opening of Parliament. About 40 materialised and were, to their surprise, surrounded by police and individually arrested.

There have been other actions by these groups away from the main PSC protests. One tactic involves splitting into small groups before ‘regathering’ at an agreed location later. On one occasion the ‘regathering’ spot was March Arch where traffic was blocked for a short while before arrests were made.

More serious protests by Palestine Action have involved criminal damage in terms of smearing red paint on buildings where the companies are believed to have ties with those supplying arms to Israel.

The most serious incident was a pre-planned incursion into the Israel linked Elbit Systems facility near Bristol. Two officers were injured, one of whom was taken to hospital and a number of staff present in the facility were assaulted. A large vehicle was driven through fencing surrounding the building.

In Glasgow, six officers were injured in Glasgow during a protest outside another firm with Israeli links.

A more recent mid-week action in and around Whitehall drew a bigger crowd than expected and social media footage saw some ‘push and shove’ with police.

There have been other ‘local action’ protests with Barclay’s Bank being a favoured target. The Met seem coy about producing exact arrest figures in respect of pro-Palestine protests in London but the figure would appear to be between 4 and 500.

Across the country, Palestine Action activists have and are appearing in court in respect of actions taken against organisations deemed to be supportive of Israel but there have been acquittals on the basis of their actions being justified.

‘Inserts.’

One significant problem for the Met at pro-Palestine protests concerns the question of ‘inserts.’ The Met’s general policy at public order events, whether political protest or football matches, is to keep rival groups apart in order to prevent disorder.

The early pro-Palestine protests saw the beginning of pro-Israeli activists deliberately ‘inserting’ themselves amongst their rivals in order to exercise their ‘freedom of movement’ on the streets of London.

This situation made major headlines when a prominent figure in the Jewish community together with ‘minders’ and a photographer were prevented from mingling with passing pro-Palestine protesters by a police sergeant.  Carefully edited footage appeared on social media which saw much criticism directed against the sergeant; however, an extended version of the incident shown on Sky News changed the narrative to the extent that the officer was widely praised which included a complementary statement from the Commissioner.

Initially it was one individual who regularly ‘inserted’ himself amongst marching pro-Palestinian protesters. He was generally ignored although a couple of middle- aged rivals took rather lethargic ‘swings’ at him.

He was however joined by others who now either materialise in the midst of their rivals as if inviting retribution or attempt to block the pro-Palestinian march by forming a line in front of it. Police now content themselves with either encircling the group or ushering them to one side. The situation has been made slightly more complex with certain activists now claiming to be journalists.

It is worth noting that when pro-Palestinian individuals are spotted at pro-Israeli events, complaints are made to the police and those individuals are escorted away or in two cases, arrested. At one rally in Trafalgar Square, a small group of the above-mentioned Neturei Karta materialised together with several other pro-Palestinian activists and stood on the fringes of the Square. Whilst they were ignored by most, a large wooden placard was smashed and one of their number struck in the face. They too had to be surrounded by officers.

Tempting fate?

Without wishing to tempt fate, it has to be said that considering the hugely contentious and emotively polar opposite views held by each side, the level of physical disorder when the two are in close proximity is commendably minimal.

It remains to be seen whether this level of restraint remains through 2025. Hopefully current negotiations will result in some sort of cease fire in the near future which will in turn will result in the cessation of hostilities and enable officers to return to the policing of their boroughs.

In the meantime, hopefully, the impasse in respect of this Saturday’s protest will have been resolved and the controversy won’t attract undesirable elements eager for a confrontation with police.

Category: OpsPublic Order