Gaza protests in London have cost more than £32 million in policing

A Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) march will take place in central London this weekend, the fifth major demonstration of the year so far in the city. The group said it was expecting “hundreds of thousands of people” to march from Hyde Park Corner to the US Embassy.

The Metropolitan Police said the policing of such protests since October 7 had required 35,464 officer shifts and more than 5,200 officer rest days to be cancelled, at a cost of £32.3 million. It added that a “robust policing plan” was in place for a “busy weekend in the capital”.

Commander Karen Findlay, who will oversee policing across London on Saturday, said people committing criminal offenses during protests would be dealt with “decisively and swiftly”.

In a statement, Findlay said: “We are clearly operating in a context where we understand our Jewish and Muslim communities continue to be highly concerned about antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crime and their sense of safety in London.”

Findlay also expressed an understanding of the anxiety and fear people feel as a result of perceived or actual threats. She added that their “role remains to police impartially … and ensuring [the] protest is managed within the law.”

Findlay’s statement comes as the government’s counter-extremism official warned that London’s streets have become a “no-go zone for Jews” during pro-Palestinian protests.

Robin Simcox said a “permissive environment for radicalization” was developing as he welcomed the government’s forthcoming new definition of extremism.

PSC director Ben Jamal said: “Despite further attempts by Government Ministers, including the Prime Minister, and Lord Walney, to demonize those protesting and suppress calls for a ceasefire, hundreds of thousands will again be taking to the streets, calling for an end to Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people.

“We will continue to protest until a ceasefire is called, and until there is an end to all UK complicity with Israel’s decades-long oppression of the Palestinian people.”

The organizer of a counter-protest in London said such demonstrations mean “Jews can’t go out in the street”.

“No-go zones” for Jewish people

Itai Galmudy said that pro-Palestinian demonstrations had created “no-go zones for Jewish people” in the capital and “ballooned into anti-Israeli hate marches”. Galmudy said he organized Saturday afternoon’s counter-protest with a “collective of people that share the same frustrations” with the pro-Palestinian marches.

He said he was “very concerned” that counter-protesters might encounter violence.

Galmudy told the PA news agency: “We will just not accept that Jews can’t go out in the street because somebody wants to protest. “Those marches have ballooned into anti-Israeli hate marches, and we think it’s enough. We don’t want to live in fear, and we will not accept it.

"There is no room in our society for protests that don’t allow other people to live next to them,” he added.

Galmudy, aware that some individuals might be afraid to take the risk of encountering violence, said he was expecting “50-100 people maximum” to attend the counter-protest. He said: “We know that [pro-Palestinian] protests are not as peaceful as some people tell us they are.” Galmudy also expressed concern for the UK, saying that to him, it seems the country is “letting the mob run” it.