On Saturday 27th April there was another demonstration in support of Palestine in central London. There have been a series of protests since October 2023. Despite claims by right wing commentators and media they do not take place every week. A rough average is twice a month. In between local and regional protests take place.
The size seems to have been around 200,000 people, a significant number given the numbers of protests there have been. The picture above was taken before the entire march had reached the Park. The Met Police posted on X that with the head of the march having arrived the rear was in Piccadilly giving another indication of size.
As usual the march was overwhelmingly peaceful and orderly. There appear to have been two arrests. As one of the organisers John Rees posted on X it is the scale of protest that means demands for them to be banned have so far failed. The key victory was on Armistice Day when then Home Secretary Suella Bravermen tried to pressure police into banning a march and ended up losing her job.
Even so the police continue to impose conditions on the march from timings to route.
On Saturday there was a small static pro-Israel protest in Piccadilly which police also imposed conditions on. A projected march by the Campaign against Anti-Semitism, a right-wing group, was cancelled. Behind this were further attempts to get the marches for Palestine stopped.
In reality the CAA march didn’t happen because they refused to discuss with police timings or a route. They wanted to march wherever they want. There has never been an absolute right to do that but in particular the CAA clearly havent noticed recent changes to protest laws.
While the changes are to be deplored in essence they tend to mean that if you protest without engaging with the police you can be arrested, often for some rather vague and ill defined reason.
The Hyde Park protest on 27th April was another significant success for those determined to support .alestine and protest Israel’s actions in Gaza. More will clearly be needed, just as the right will continue to try and stop them. So far the power of the movement is stopping them.
Solidarity is having an impact both with official political circles in Britain and with those most in need of it in Gaza
Kmflett's Blog 
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