{"id":958558,"date":"2026-05-14T04:53:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T04:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/958558\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T04:53:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T04:53:33","slug":"uk-cops-plan-unprecedented-operation-for-concurrent-nakba-day-unite-the-kingdom-rallies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/958558\/","title":{"rendered":"UK cops plan ‘unprecedented’ operation for concurrent Nakba Day, ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rallies"},"content":{"rendered":"

London police said on Wednesday they would mount an \u201cunprecedented\u201d operation this weekend to prevent violence and serious disorder when two large protests \u2014 anti-immigration and pro-Palestinian \u2014 take place in the British capital.<\/p>\n

At least 80,000 people are expected in London on Saturday for the two demonstrations \u2014 a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel march marking Nakba Day and another \u201cUnite the Kingdom\u201d rally organized by the anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known by his pseudonym Tommy Robinson.<\/p>\n

With the soccer FA Cup final also being staged at Wembley in the northwest of the capital, and against a backdrop of global tensions, recent antisemitic attacks, and a raising of Britain\u2019s terrorism threat level, police said they would be using \u201cthe most assertive possible use of our powers\u201d to forestall trouble.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scale of the operation is unprecedented in recent years,\u201d Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman told reporters, saying it would involve some 4,000 officers backed up by helicopters and dog units, and with armed police vehicles in reserve.<\/p>\n

Antisemitic attacks<\/p>\n

London has recently seen a spate of arson attacks on Jewish sites, and two Jewish men were stabbed last month in an incident being treated as terrorism.<\/p>\n

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Regular large pro-Palestinian marches against Israel \u2014 of which there have been 33 since the Hamas-led assault on Israel in October 2023 \u2014 have been blamed for fueling antisemitism, with prosecutions for those behind offensive chanting and holding placards that incite hatred.<\/p>\n

Friday is Nakba Day, which marks the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians driven from their homes in the war surrounding Israel\u2019s declaration of independence. Nakba means \u201ccatastrophe\u201d in Arabic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, rallies fronted by Yaxley-Lennon, who counts US billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk among his supporters, have led to anti-Muslim chanting and violence, Harman said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tDemonstrators take part in the Tommy Robinson-led Unite the Kingdom march and rally near Westminster, London, September 13, 2025. (Joanna Chan\/AP)<\/p>\n

Last September, about 150,000 protesters attended a \u201cUnite the Kingdom\u201d event, one of the largest such demonstrations of its kind seen in London, when Musk appeared by videolink.<\/p>\n

Ahead of Saturday\u2019s protests, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government had banned seven foreign \u201cfar-right agitators\u201d from being allowed into Britain to attend Yaxley-Lennon\u2019s event.<\/p>\n

Robinson says he has been targeted by the state for exposing wrongdoing but his critics say he is little more than a far-right rabble-rouser with a string of criminal convictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to be mindful this Saturday of the history of football [soccer] hooligan groups supporting causes fronted by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon,\u201d Harman said.<\/p>\n


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