Statement on the events of Saturday 18 January at Whitehall and Trafalgar Square

We are deeply disturbed by the actions of the Metropolitan Police in attacking our right to peacefully protest and commemorate those killed in Gaza at a rally organised by The Palestine Solidarity Campaign on Saturday 18th January.

A number of draconian restrictions were put in place on the day of the rally, which restricted our rights to assemble and march to the BBC, as had been previously agreed with the police.

Various reasons were given for the restrictions which often appeared flimsy and contradictory. Some of their actions led at times to potentially dangerous levels of crushing, and attendees who overwhelmingly were dispersing towards various stations and bus stops found themselves unable to do so.

Attempts were made by the police to paint the march as a threat to the Jewish community. In fact, there was a significant number of people from Jewish groups present at the rally and we reject ongoing attempts to conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.

After the rally, misleading statements were put out by the police claiming that large crowds had broken through police lines when video evidence shows the opposite.

The political nature of these attacks against our movement are obvious and we call for the release and dropping of charges against the protest organisers and other activists.

Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign