About 200 protesters turned up and after a brief stroll along Regent Street, stopped and vented their anger at the Apple Store. Apple, they claim, fund armed groups and use children as forced labour to extract valuable minerals used in the construction of mobile phones and laptops.

March officials pushed some of the more over-zealous protesters back but although there was palpable anger, there was no violence. Police officers present looked on anxiously as a female protester had a hysterical meltdown but tempers subsided as the march moved along.

Congolese and Ukrainian protests converge

Another march and rally in support of Ukraine was also taking place the same day. As the Congo march arrived at Piccadilly, the pro-Ukraine contingent was already proceeding through the iconic landmark. Police halted the Congolese march for a few minutes but both were able to make their way towards Trafalgar Square without any difficulty. Interestingly there was no communication of any description between the two sets of marchers; just curiosity.

The Ukraine contingent filed into Trafalgar Square which was a sea of blue and yellow while the Congo march carried on to Downing Street. Strangely, although relations between protesters and police had been more than amicable, a male with a megaphone began leading a chant instructing participants not to talk to police. It was the mantra frequently heard on far-left marches but seemed totally unnecessary, especially as the march was coming to its conclusion.

It looked to have been an uneventful day for the Met’s Gold and Silver commanders but then there was the unexpected news of the ‘Tower Bridge takeover,’ which was predictably seized upon by police critics.

Support for Julian Assange

Photos: Chris Hobbs

Those critics had been given ammunition by events the previous Wednesday when there were two significant protests. This was the second day of a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice which could decide the fate of Julian Assange. A sizeable crowd of protesters complete with colourful placards and banners together with a profusion of yellow ribbons, were outside the court. Drums and other instruments provided a lively background; police were largely untroubled but what was interesting was the fact that this protest had attracted, not only predictable support from the left but also from the far right.

With both united in a common cause, a march was inevitable and so it proved. It progressed to Trafalgar Square and then to opposite Downing Street; officers ushered protesters onto the footway where they listened to speeches and indulged in chanting.

A lobby of Parliament leads to controversy.

On the same day pro-Palestinian groups organised a lobby of the House of Commons which was very well attended with significant queues who were watched over by a significant police presence. Concerns that there might be some sort of demonstration inside Parliament itself proved unfounded.

The lobby was to be followed by a rally at 5.30pm and a stage was set up on one side of Parliament Square with protesters congregating on two sides of the Square, the grassed area having been fenced off until the spring.

Jeremy Corbyn was one of the speakers but it was strange that those at the far end of the square (the Nelson Mandela end) seemed to want to continue chanting over his and other speeches.

With Westminster Council, despite the hundreds present, deciding to close the public toilets at an early hour, the option was a comfort break trek to Charing Cross station. When I returned, I wasn’t surprised to find the rally had finished, but I was surprised to find the crowd at the Nelson Mandela ‘end’ in an animated mood. I wasn’t to find out the reason why until the next day.

After police moved quickly to shut down a walkabout at the conclusion of the previous Saturday’s rally close to the Israeli Embassy, I wondered whether this animated crowd would venture forth on another walkabout.

They did; officers walked with them up Whitehall and the 200 or so protesters stopped outside Downing Street as more officers appeared both on foot and in carriers.

The march set off again and unlike the walkabout the previous Saturday, a decision was made to allow it to continue. On reaching Trafalgar Square, the 200 or so protesters predicably took over the Nelson’s plinth and began chanting led by a near hysterical young lady with a megaphone.

More carriers appeared and several officers went into the group and were speaking to some of the protesters. The hysterical female began leading the ‘don’t talk to the police’ mantra which was to be heard three days later at the above- mentioned Congo protest.

The crowd under Nelson’s column thinned slightly and then the officers watching the crowd were withdrawn. Shortly after that, the visible carriers all disappeared leaving the crowd to chant to themselves. There was zero interest from the public.

At one stage, the chanting included the term ‘intifada’ but the numbers were thinning; it was time for home then the pub.

It wasn’t until the next morning that I discovered that during my comfort break the controversial ‘from the river to the sea’ slogan was beamed on to Big Ben. This caused outrage and the Daily Mail and Express both featured this incident as their lead story on Friday’s front pages and both featured predictable criticism of police.

Amidst the controversy, as with the ‘clambering over the war monument,’ scenario, there was a social media debate as to what offences were being committed that would justify police intervention.

The prevalent argument was and is that the phrase; ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ is advocating the genocide of the Jewish people and is therefore a hate slogan. However, there are multiple other interpretations including that the phrase means Jews, Muslims and Christians can live together in freedom and harmony. The full, informative Wikipedia article can be found here and relevant sections/links will surely be quoted should the use of this phrase result in a prosecution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_river_to_the_sea  

In the interim the debate continues, fuelled by a Home Affairs Select Committee report which, generally and perhaps surprisingly, was sympathetic to the challenges these protests posed to the Met.