Defend Our Juries vows to continue with protest despite pleas from Met

Organisers of a pro-Palestine protest planned in central London have insisted it will go ahead despite calls from police and the Home Secretary to delay or cancel.

Protest group Defend Our Juries has organised a demonstration on Saturday in Trafalgar Square, and claimed on Friday: “Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win”.

The Metropolitan Police has raised concerns about the amount of police resources the protest would divert at a time when “visible reassurance and protective security” is needed in communities across London.

But Defend Our Juries, which has led previous demonstrations against the terrorist ban on Palestine Action, said it planned to go ahead with the march.

Around 1,500 people, “including priests, vicars, pensioners and healthcare workers”, are expected to get involved.

The Met Police said it will call in support from other forces in the country if necessary, to ensure officers can arrest all those breaking the law in support of Palestine Action, a proscribed terrorist group.

The previous two events have seen a total of 1,422 people arrested, the majority for supporting a proscribed organisation.

A Defend Our Juries spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with everyone who has lost loved ones in the horrific attack on Heaton Park Synagogue and we stand in solidarity with the Jewish community across the UK.

“Many Jewish supporters of Defend Our Juries have warned that postponing tomorrow’s action would risk conflating the actions of the state of Israel with Jewish people around the world, as Netanyahu seeks to do, who bear no responsibility for Israel’s crimes, which could fuel antisemitic hatred and prejudice.

“It couldn’t be clearer that tomorrow’s action, which is in Trafalgar Square and not near any synagogue, is about defying the Government’s absurdly authoritarian proscription of Palestine Action and the Government’s complicity in the genocide being committed by the Israeli Government.

“Yesterday’s attack was actual terrorism and we join others across the country in condemning it unreservedly and we urge the Home Secretary and the police to prioritise protecting the community, instead of arresting entirely peaceful protesters.

“Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win. It’s more important than ever to defend our democracy, including our fundamental rights to peaceful protest and freedom of speech, and to take a stand tomorrow against killing and against oppression, and for peace and justice for all.”

The Met has continued to urge the group to call off its plans, in a statement which echoed the earlier sentiments of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

In a statement released by the Met on Friday afternoon, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: “The horrific attack in Manchester has caused significant fear and concern in communities across the UK, including here in London.

“Yet at a time when we want to be deploying every available officer to ensure the safety of those communities, we are instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation.

“By deliberately choosing to encourage mass law breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most.

“People have been debating for the last two years whether pro-Palestinian protests are simply a call for peace, or have an implicit intention to stir up antisemitism.

“Continuing such protests within hours of Thursday’s awful terrorist murder of British Jews, when communities are most fearful, will likely create further tensions and some might say lacks sensitivity.”

He added that if they continue to fail to delay or cancel the protest, “they should not think for a moment that their offending will go unpoliced”.

“If we have to, we will call in support from forces across the UK to ensure we can arrest all those breaking the law in support of a terrorist group while we also keep communities safe.”

Speaking to LBC earlier, Ms Mahmood said: “I don’t think they do their cause any favours by behaving in this way.

“If the point of protest is to stand up for something and persuade other people that you are right, then I think this is entirely the wrong way to go about it, but that is on their conscience.”

The Home Secretary also said she was “very disappointed” by protests that took place on Thursday night in the wake of the attacks.

“I think that behaviour is fundamentally un-British. I think it’s dishonourable,” she added.

Some 40 people were arrested in the course of a large protest outside Downing Street, six of whom were arrested for assaults on police officers, according to the Met.

Police said that as well as additional patrols being carried out by local officers, Londoners can also expect to see deployments of specialist Project Servator officers across many crowded places and locations in the capital.

These dedicated patrols are designed to disrupt any potential criminal or terrorist activity, with these officers are specially trained to spot tell-tale signs that someone may be preparing to carry out a crime or act of terrorism.

Specialist officers will also be working with event organisers to review policing and security plans already in place for other public events over the weekend, and additional armed police officers will be readily deployable across London.

Elsewhere, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it plans to hold a demonstration outside Downing Street next Thursday, to mark a week following the Manchester terror attack.

A spokesperson for CAA said: “The time for dialogue, platitudes, and lip service has passed. Britain can no longer afford excuses while our Jewish community faces terror on our streets. On Thursday evening, we will be protesting outside Downing Street to demand action, not empty words.”