The Metropolitan Police has come under heavy criticism at a pro-Palestinian rally organised by the Youth Demand campaign group after six of its supporters were arrested last week.
More than 30 officers made the arrests at a welcome talk being held at the Quaker Meeting House in Westminster last Thursday evening, the organisation said, with the force explaining the individuals were detained over plans to “shut down London” in April.
Around 100 people gathered outside the University of London’s Senate House Library in central London on Tuesday evening, including a very small group of mostly male counter demonstrators.
Multiple heated interactions broke out between members of the opposing groups but the two-hour protest was broadly peaceful, with organisers urging pro-Palestinian protesters not to interact with counter demonstrators.
The rally kicked off with a series of chants, including: “Met Police pick a side – freedom or genocide”, before several speeches were made in which speakers criticised last week’s arrests.
One woman who said she was among those arrested at the Quaker Meeting House told the crowd: “I was literally just sitting down and about 30 police officers slammed open the door and arrested us.”
She described how she was taken to a police station and remained there for 17 hours, adding: “It was my first arrest and it was horrible.”
She told of her anxiety over hearing police sirens or seeing police vans.
“The Met traumatised a bunch of young women because they saw fit to violate our rights,” she went on.
“Whether we take a break today or tomorrow or the whole of April, we will be back because the police can never keep us down.
“They can arrest us and make new laws, but they can never take away our voices.”
The Quakers in Britain group had condemned the arrests, saying they were the first at a meeting house “in living memory”.
After the arrests, a Met spokesperson said: “Youth Demand have stated an intention to ‘shut down’ London over the month of April using tactics including ‘swarming’ and road blocks.
“While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality.
“On Thursday, officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting where those in attendance were plotting their April action.
“Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.”
Tuesday evening’s rally marked the start of the “shut it down” movement and called for the UK Government to impose a total trade embargo on Israel.
Around five counter demonstrators held signs which said: “You are the April Fools” and “London says no to terrorists”.
The group shouted during some of the speeches, used megaphones to play siren noises and held the Union and Israeli flags.
One of the men said: “It’s my right to stand here as a British citizen on the streets of London.”
A few heated conversations broke out between protesters and counter demonstrators – with two men from opposing groups shouting in each other’s faces at one point – prompting police officers present to stand in between people.
The counter demonstrators left after spending one hour at the rally.
