{"id":207700,"date":"2025-06-23T13:01:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T13:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/207700\/"},"modified":"2025-06-23T13:01:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T13:01:21","slug":"police-clash-with-protesters-in-london-follow-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/207700\/","title":{"rendered":"police clash with protesters in London \u2014 follow live"},"content":{"rendered":"

Miriam Scharf, 75, a pensioner of Jewish heritage from Newham, east London, said: \u201cIt is extremely important to me that it is not done in the name of Jewish people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is extremely important that those who stand up for what is just and for humanity, are allowed to protest about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think from the beginning under the previous government, they\u2019ve always wanted to shut us up. The Labour government had gone along with it. They don\u2019t like any protests against their policies because our government is \u2026 complicit in a genocide, complicit in what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018We should have right to stand in front of parliament\u2019 <\/p>\n

Diana Neslen, 85, a \u201cregular\u201d at marches in support of Palestine, attended the protest on two crutches but left after altercations between protesters and the police.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here today to support democracy, to support free speech and to support our right to peaceful action,\u201d she said when protesters were gathered before Nelson\u2019s Column.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at this, we should have the right to stand in front of parliament and show our faith until the MPs see why we think what they\u2019re doing is wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead we\u2019re herded into little tiny spaces so that hardly anyone can see us, and certainly not the politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Activists say Met response is \u2018draconian\u2019\"Police<\/p>\n

Police officers and protesters in Trafalgar Square<\/p>\n

JEFF MOORE\/PA<\/p>\n

Palestine Action has lashed out at the Metropolitan Police\u2019s \u201cdraconian response\u201d to the protest at Trafalgar Square, in which several protestors were dragged off by police.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to ban us, they banned our protest at parliament and now they attack us,\u201d the group said on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people will not be intimated. We are all Palestine Action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traffic brought to a standstill <\/p>\n

The protesters now spread across the junction of Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross Road and Duncannon Street.<\/p>\n

Pushing in the crowd has now stopped although there remains a heavy police presence.<\/p>\n

Pedestrians are able to pass although traffic is blocked. In one corner, protesters who brought young children have put down picnic blankets.<\/p>\n

Met chief \u2018shocked and frustrated\u2019 by protest <\/p>\n

Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, earlier said he was \u201cshocked and frustrated\u201d at the planned demonstration, as the group is soon expected to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation. <\/p>\n

The Met has placed restrictions on the protest, including an exclusion zone around parliament, and stipulating that it must end by 3pm.<\/p>\n

Protest moved to Trafalgar Square after parliament ban<\/p>\n

Organisers had changed the location of the protest to Trafalgar Square after police enforced an exclusion zone around parliament. <\/p>\n

The protest has now spread into the road, blocking traffic. One protester handed out cards with instructions on what to do if arrested.<\/p>\n

Cooper to proscribe Palestine Action<\/p>\n

The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said she has decided to proscribe Palestine Action and will lay an order before parliament next week which, if passed, will make membership and support for the protest group illegal.<\/p>\n

Crowd chants \u2018shame on you\u2019 at officers \"The<\/p>\n

The scene in Trafalgar Square on Monday<\/p>\n

HENRY NICHOLLS\/AFP\/GETTY<\/p>\n

Disorder has broken out at a protest in support of Palestine Action in London, as the group is expected to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation.<\/p>\n

Police appeared to lead away some protesters, while the crowd chanted \u201cshame on you\u201d and \u201clet them go\u201d and tried to pull activists away from officers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miriam Scharf, 75, a pensioner of Jewish heritage from Newham, east London, said: \u201cIt is extremely important to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[10281,748,60055,393,17326,4884,256,9461,257,12,1814,529,33791,16,15,6095],"class_list":{"0":"post-207700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-action","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-clash","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-follow","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-in","15":"tag-live","16":"tag-london","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-palestine","19":"tag-police","20":"tag-protesters","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom","23":"tag-with"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114732812836079440","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}