London’s Metropolitan Police said that officers will assess masked protesters individually at a planned Oct. 10 anti-Israel march organized by the Palestine Coalition, and that it is possible that those who refuse to uncover their faces will be arrested.
A spokesman for Met Police told JNS that police officers “are experienced in policing marches and the differing groups who attend and will use their judgment on why a person is wearing a mask and what action is required.”
“Up to 10,000 people are expected,” the police spokesman told JNS.
Carl Gavin, deputy assistant commissioner of the Met Police, stated that the department would use laws allowing it to require people to remove face coverings if it is determined their intention is to conceal their identities or “intimidate and commit offenses.”
“We know Saturday’s event, so close to the third anniversary of the terror attack on Israel, has the potential to have a greater impact on communities than the previous national matches,” Gavin stated. “We have seen debate about this issue following the student protests earlier this week, with the presumption that police will arrest anyone wearing a face covering.”
“To be clear, we have the power under Section 60AA to arrest someone who refuses to remove a mask,” he said.
A separate group, Stop the Hate, plans to rally outside New Scotland Yard on Oct. 10.
The Met Police told JNS that the group advertised a shorter time-frame and that “conditions set keep them to that area and allow them to remain until 2:30 p.m., so longer, in fact, than the advertised event.”
On Friday, Mark Birbeck, founder of Our Fight UK, filed a claim against the Met Police in the High Court in London.
The claim, which the Campaign Against Antisemitism is representing and funding, states that Birbeck was arrested on suspicion of violating the Terrorism Act at a protest in 2024 when he debated anti-Israel protesters. Footage of the incident shows that he was calm, according to the claim.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism called Birbeck’s case “yet another galling example of two-tier policing in Britain.”
“While Palestine activists repeatedly break our laws with impunity, a member of the public is seemingly unable to peacefully express support for British Jews without being arrested on suspicion of terrorism,” the group stated on Friday.
In a statement about conditions for Saturday’s march, Gavin refuted the accusation of “two-tiered policing.”
“It is officers exercising professional judgment and acting proportionately based on the facts before them,” he stated.
“There have been 35 large protests organized by the groups that make up the Palestine Coalition since October 2023,” Gavin said. “The majority who attend do so peacefully and lawfully, but we have seen arrests from a small minority across these protests for racially and religiously aggravated public order offenses, for stirring up racial hatred and for supporting terrorist organizations.”
