The Metropolitan Police, in London, is asking university students planning an anti-Israel march on Oct. 7 in central London to “reconsider the date of their march.”
At a New Scotland Yard media briefing on Friday, James Harman, deputy assistant commissioner for operations at the Met, said that “we are expecting to police half a dozen protests and events across the next week.”
On Oct. 7, a student group called the University of London Coalition plans to march from King’s College London in the Strand to University College London in Holborn. “They have demanded the end to what they have described as a ‘genocide’ in Gaza,” Harman said.
Promotional materials for the march state that it will begin at noon on Oct. 7. “Oct. 7 is only the most recent form of genocide inflicted on the Palestinian people,” organizers wrote. “Join us in our struggle for a liberated Palestine. From the river to the sea.”
Harman noted that “Wednesday marks three years since the horrific Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel and the start of the ensuing conflict in Gaza.”
“The impact of both has been felt here in the capital and across the world,” he said. “For many in our city, this will be a day of mourning, a day of reflection, and we are aware of a number of vigil events being planned.”
There are concerns about how the march will affect Jewish students and staff, and the Met has tried to contact the student organizers of the march but “finding the organizers has so far proved difficult,” he said.
If organizers do not move the date, “our policing plan will take account of the impact on the community that holding that protest on that specific date will have,” Harman said.
According to the Community Security Trust, the number of antisemitic incidents in universities in the United Kingdom is “substantially higher” than before Oct. 7, according to the Met official.
“We will take a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime and any other offending,” he said.
Since October 2023, the Met has made more than 17,000 hate crime arrests, according to Harman. That’s about 475 hate crimes arrests a month, on average.
The United Kingdom has recently “seen arrests made in connection with a reported planned terror attack on the Jewish community in Manchester, as well as other global events,” Harman said. “Fears in the capital’s Jewish communities are particularly heightened.”
“We know, of course, that many communities, including London’s Muslim communities, also feel fearful and all feel the impact of events in this country and around the world,” he said.
He also cited a planned march for Oct. 10, organized by the Palestine Coalition and said that expects 10,000 people to attend. Stop the Hate UK may organize a counter-protest, Harman said.
The Palestine Coalition states the London march will begin at noon at the Victoria Embankment and end in Whitehall.
“Police will impose strict conditions on the march, around the timing and route of the protest. These will be communicated in advance of the event,” Harman said. “The policing presence on the day is expected to be significant, with several hundred officers involved in ensuring disruption is kept to a minimum and any crime or disorder is dealt with swiftly and robustly.”
