Campaign group Youth Demand has heavily criticised the Met Police and vowed to press on with its “biggest civil disobedience campaign yet”.
Around 100 people gathered outside the University of London’s Senate House Library in central London on Tuesday evening as the protesters kicked off a month of planned disruption with a series of chats, including: “Met Police pick a side – freedom or genocide”.
More than 30 officers made six arrests at a welcome talk being held at the Quaker Meeting House in Westminster last Thursday evening, Youth Demand said, with the force explaining the individuals were detained over plans to “shut down London” in April.
At the pro-Palestine rally on Malet Street in Bloomsbury on Tuesday evening, the group said the arrests were in fact an attempt by the Government to “shut down” their movement.
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 “panic” when she hears police sirens or sees 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 protest group, which formed last year, has called for the UK Government to impose a total trade embargo on Israel and said it will be “swarming” roads, a tactic often used by protesters to try and block traffic, in April.
Another Youth Demand protester, 24-year-old Arthur, described the scene when police broke into a Quaker meeting held last week and "rounded up" all the attendees.
"It's shocking, it's unbelievable, but it's also not surprising,” the Youth Demand spokesperson told the Standard. “What we are trying to show here is solidarity, against a government that is desperately trying to shut us down."
The activist said the demonstration was to show solidarity for protesters from different groups that he claimed had been treated inappropriately by police.
Asked how the group were planning to shut down London, Arthur told the Standard we would have to “wait and find out”, adding that he believed disruptive action was “totally necessary” to get the group's message across.
The protester was previously arrested on July 19 ahead of the State Opening of Parliament.
He also argued that the tactics of campaigners Just Stop Oil were effective in achieving policy change, despite being unpopular with some of the public.
A small group of counter-protesters shouted in opposition amongst the din of megaphones and drumbeats.
One such counter-protester, a Jewish man who held a sign reading “London says no to terrorists”, was seen in heated arguments with protesters who asked police to keep his group away from the main rally.
The 46-year-old, who wished to remain anonymous, said he felt the chants were “anti-semitic, disruptive, and offensive”.
“As a Jewish person who lives in London when they disrupt this city, I will stand against it,” he told the Standard.
He claimed that he often encountered abuse from Pro-Palestinian demonstrators while trying to make his voice heard at their events.
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.
Youth Demand claimed as many as 200 people expressed an interest in joining its upcoming action following the police raid at a Quaker meeting house last week.
