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More than 500 officers are being deployed in central London to police an annual march in help of Palestine and a pro-Isreal counter protest exterior the House of Parliament.
The Metropolitan Police introduced particulars of a significant policing operation forward of the demonstrations on Friday amid tensions over the continued battle in the Middle East.
Protestors should not “cross the line into criminality”, the Metropolitan Police has warned, including that the pressure will “police without fear or favour right up to the line of the law”.
The pressure mentioned it has been in dialogue with the organisers of each demonstrations – that are every topic to circumstances below the Public Order Act.
The annual Al Quds Day march in help of Palestine, which is organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission and takes place on the ultimate Friday of Ramadan, should keep on with a pre-agreed route and finish at 7pm.
Demonstrators will collect exterior the Home Office in Marsham Street from 3pm, earlier than heading into Horseferry Road, alongside Millbank, previous the entrance of the Houses of Parliament and ending in Whitehall the place speeches will happen.
The second demonstration is a pro-Israel counter protest. This will take the type of a static demonstration in Parliament Square and protestors should stick with a specified zone in Parliament Square, the Met mentioned.
The pressure mentioned will probably be distributing leaflets to protestors clearly setting out what is appropriate inside the regulation after a string of arrests at pro-Palestine marches because the Israel-Gaza battle broke out final October.
Commander Colin Wingrove, who’s main the policing operation, mentioned: “The conflict between Israel and Hamas continues to have a far reaching impact across communities including here in London.
“We recognise that there will be some who feel this march should not be allowed to take place at all.
“We work to the law. Parliament has determined that there are only very rare and specific circumstances when an application can be made to the Home Secretary for a protest to be banned. It requires a real risk of serious disorder and neither the intelligence picture nor the conversations we have had with organisers give us reason to believe that threshold will be met today.
“The rights of people to express their views through protest must be protected and our officers will ensure they are, but anyone who abuses those rights and uses them as an opportunity to commit offences or to promote hate can expect to face police action.
“We have set out our expectations clearly in discussions with the organisers of both demonstrations. We expect them to manage their events and we expect participants to remain within the law. If they do not, officers will act positively to intervene, to investigate and to deal with allegations.
“There have been a number of instances at protests in recent months where actions have taken place that are distasteful to many, but that don’t cross the line into criminality. Our role is to police without fear or favour right up to the line of the law, but our powers do not extend to policing taste and decency, no matter our view of what is being said.
“Where that line into criminality is crossed, we will step in. Anyone seen to be supporting a proscribed group, using hate speech, trying to directly interfere with the other protest or committing other offences will be dealt with by officers.”
More follows…
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