Jewish group urges London police to reverse ban on pro-Palestine protest

More than 660 prominent British Jews have called on the Metropolitan Police to reverse a ban on a planned pro-Palestine protest outside the BBC headquarters in London later this week.

Prominent legal, cultural and academic figures are among hundreds of British Jews calling on the police to reverse the decision to prevent the pro-Palestine rally outside the state-run British media outlet on January 18.

The most prominent members of the Jewish community opposing the police decision include Rabbi Jeffrey Newman, writer and director Adam Gantz, Professors Moshe Machover and Jacqueline Rose, writer/comedian Alexei Sayle, Holocaust survivors, including Stephen Kapos, and their descendants.

In a statement on Monday, the Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) also criticized the ban as bowing to “partisan campaigning aimed at preventing peaceful and lawful assembly”.

The group said the police faced “strong pressure from pro-Israel organizations” who claimed that Palestine solidarity protests pose a threat to synagogue congregations.

“This evidence-free claim is robustly contradicted by the large Jewish Bloc visible on every major demonstration since the genocide began in October 2023,” the statement noted.

“As Jews, we are shocked at this brazen attempt to interfere with hard-won political freedoms by conjuring up an imaginary threat to Jewish freedom of worship.”

“As Jews, we are shocked at this brazen attempt to interfere with hard-won political freedoms by conjuring up an imaginary threat to Jewish freedom of worship,” it added.

Last week, the Metropolitan Police announced that they would impose the Public Order Act to prevent the pro-Palestine rally from forming outside the BBC on Saturday, because of its proximity to a synagogue. 

The UK’s pro-Palestinian groups have condemned London’s Metropolitan police for preventing a pro-Palestine rally outside the BBC headquarters from going ahead as scheduled on January 18.

The BBC’s coverage of Gaza has failed to portray Palestinian suffering adequately, according to the protest organizers who view the marches as an important opportunity to hold the British broadcasters accountable for their pro-Israeli bias.

Demonstration outside UK parliament

In the context of escalating Israeli attacks on the Palestinian healthcare system, a protest outside the British parliament calls for the release of detained Palestinian healthcare workers, labeling them as medical hostages.

Right-wing news channels and right-wing British publications have been making efforts to portray pro-Palestinian protesters as anti-Semitic, according to a recent study finding significant distortions in the Western coverage of the Gaza war.

The study reports pro-Palestinian voices facing misrepresentation and vilification by UK media outlets, with allegations of anti-Semitism and terrorism applied to discredit legitimate advocacy efforts.

Since October 2023, the Israeli regime forces have cut off water, food, medicine, and electricity to Gaza while pounding the blockaded Palestinians from the air, ground, and sea, relentlessly targeting homes, tents and hospitals.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 46,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023.

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