Policing the 7 October anniversary protests

Chris Hobbs follows the protests to mark the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas massacre in Israel and a protest by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

The anniversary of the October 7th massacre will have been regarded as a potentially challenging period for both the Met and many other police forces throughout the UK.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign opted to have its 20th national protest on the Saturday and those of us who had observed the previous events, expected a slight increase in numbers from the usual 10,000 or so due to the anniversary and events in Lebanon,

The march assembled at Russell Square and my initial observations tended to confirm the above estimate. I was to be proved wrong.

I made my way down to the Aldwych where the counter pro-Israeli protest was gathering. The Jewish New Year, a family event, resulted in their turnout being slightly smaller than usual but the normal vociferous nature of their counter-protest was to prove undiminished.

Three pro-Palestinian supporters, who were heading up towards Russell square, set the tone for the day by hurling insults at the assembled ranks of counter-protesters complete with their Israel flags.

Unlike the last protests, the steel barriers had actually arrived behind which the counter-protesters assembled. A few yards in front of the barriers stood a cordon of police and in front of those officers was a row of stewards who were, in essence, the ‘first line of defence.’

Insults exchanged

As the pro-Palestinian marchers arrived, the volume levels increased as the two groups exchanged chants and insults. As the march progressed, it became noticeable that there was a increase in groups of younger protesters who were quite aggressive. The fact that the stewards were recruited from the ranks of the pro-Palestinians as opposed to those from private companies, tends to result in a reluctance of the marchers to force their way through that line of stewards towards their rivals.

However, on this occasion, several protesters who ventured past the stewards, were placed back amongst the marchers by police. One aggressive individual who forced his way through was arrested and this heralded several missiles being hurled towards the police line.

A second individual, was arrested at the end of the barrier line which attracted a hostile crowd. There was now an issue of moving the prisoner towards prisoner transport which meant attempting to progress either through the pro-Palestinian crowd or the hostile pro-Israeli group. The problem was solved by deploying a serial of TSG officers who performed an oft rehearsed extrication manoeuvre which ensured the prisoner was removed with the minimum of fuss.

As the march progressed, it became obvious to observers and the police, that the numbers were considerably in excess of those seen at the more recent protests. Many groups of marchers were also more aggressive with the line of stewards having to concede some ground.

At one stage, there was a scuffle some yards behind the counter-protesters. A small number of pro-Palestinian protesters had worked their way around St. Clement Danes church and were attempting to, presumably attack, the pro-Israeli group from the rear.

A number of the pro-Israeli group ran to confront them and officers moved quickly to intervene. This may have been the incident later referred to by the Met, which resulted in several arrests.

Dense crowds and a peaceful dispersal

The march took almost two hours to pass through the Aldwych which illustrated the huge increase in numbers from the previous protest. After the march had passed, the pro-Israeli group indulged in a brief ‘sing-song’ followed by a speech which included some criticism of the Met. The counter-protest ended with the participants singing, ‘God save the King.’

The scale of the march could be seen at Trafalgar Square, where crowds were milling about and studiously ignoring four pro-Israeli counter-protesters who stood, surrounded by police, with their ‘Hamas are terrorist,’ placards.

Dense crowds could also be seen along Whitehall, down beyond Downing Street to the stage from where speeches were being made.

At one stage, a serial of officers moved into the crowd to remove a protester who appeared dressed as one of the ‘airborne’ terrorists responsible for the October  7th slaughter.

It was done speedily and effectively before the crowd realised what was occurring. The serial took the prisoner into the alley which runs alongside the Ministry of Defence. The alley was promptly sealed off by police as some of the crowd belatedly realised what was occurring.

Shortly after that arrest, the speeches concluded and most of the crowd dispersed just after the ‘witching hour’ of 5.30PM.

The Met later announced that 17 arrests were made during the course of the day while a number of individuals are being sought by officers for alleged offences committed linked to the march. Their images can be found on the relevant Met police ‘X’ post and on the force’s website.

The Hyde Park Vigil

Sunday the 6th of October saw a vigil take place at Hyde Park organised by Jewish groups. The area was fenced off and security was provided by the Community Safety Trust (CST). Part of that security included bag searches. Meanwhile, a couple of hundred yards away, and within sight of the Vigil, the Sunday ritual of Speaker’s Corner continued.

This involves Muslim speakers and debaters plus those who clearly support Israel. There was the occasional exchange of views but generally those making their way towards the vigil did so without hindrance.

The vigil itself was, predictably, an emotional affair. There were two screens; one showed the speaker while the other showed photos of those murdered by Hamas together with a brief pen-picture for each one. At one stage a female CST officer asked me if I was OK. An impassioned appeal was also made from the stage, by the mother of British hostage Emily Damari.

Towards the end of the vigil, the atmosphere at Speaker’s Corner changed as I was told it would. A small group gathered around a Palestinian flag and began to heckle those who were leaving the vigil early. This sparked some angry exchanges although it should be stressed that these were individuals who would have attended Speaker’s Corner in any event rather than part of an organised counter-protest.

Police intervened, forming a cordon between the rival groups and the angry exchanges continued. CST personal meanwhile directed those leaving the vigil away from the Speakers Corner debating area.

Four mounted officers stood by watching events and, additional carriers could be seen just outside the park but passions appeared to cool. The hecklers seemed to lose interest and Speaker’s Corner returned to its groups of debaters that included individuals wrapped in Israeli flags.

On the 7th of October itself, pro-Palestine protests took place at various locations across the world. Concerns that there could be some form of protest outside the Israeli Embassy in Kensington proved unfounded. Whilst there was some activity elsewhere in the UK, London police officers could have been tempted to have used the ‘Q’ word however overnight, premises belonging to the Allianz financial services company, were targeted by Palestine Action. Premises in the City and elsewhere were vandalised using red paint; the reason apparently being that Allianz insures Israeli arms suppliers.

Despite this, the Met, could, in normal times, have expected to attract some praise for their public order policing of an emotionally charged weekend. These are not normal times however and praise for even-handed policing operations was virtually and predictably non-existent.

Chris Hobbs is a former Special Branch officer who follows protests as an observer for Police Oracle.

Category: OpsPublic Order