Twelve arrested as hundreds attend Al-Quds Day rally in London | Israel-Palestine conflict news

Police arrested 12 protesters as they defied government restrictions to gather on the banks of the Thames.

Hundreds of people gathered in central London for the annual al-Quds Day demonstration, an international show of solidarity with the Palestinians that took place this year amid sweeping new restrictions and a heavy police presence.

Crowds gathered Sunday along the Albert Embankment on the River Thames, where protesters waved Palestinian flags, held banners and shouted slogans – some carrying pictures of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed earlier this month during a US-Israeli attack on Iran.

Police have arrested 12 people at the event, including for supporting a banned organization and for threatening or abusive behaviour.

Chants of “from the river to the sea” and “Israel is a terrorist state” were heard. Al-Quds Day is named after the Arabic name for Jerusalem.

More than 1,000 officers have been deployed across the region ahead of what Assistant Commissioner of Police Ade Adelekan warned of yet another “tough public order weekend”. Early estimates were that 12,000 people could attend, but only a few hundred turned up.

The demonstration marked the first time in more than a decade that authorities have banned marches through the capital.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood approved Scotland Yard’s request for a month-long ban on marches, citing the “volatile situation in the Middle East” and the risks of public disorder linked to potential clashes between different groups of demonstrators.

Organizers from the Islamic Human Rights Commission went ahead with a “fixed” rally in protest, telling supporters the event would go ahead regardless.

The group accused the London police of “caving in to pressure from the Zionist lobby”.

‘Words have effects’

Al-Quds Day is held annually on the final Friday of Ramadan, with rallies held worldwide in solidarity with Palestinians and against Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. Sunday was held in London as Friday was a regular working day.

Police warned demonstrators that “intifada” slogans and displays of support for banned groups would lead to arrests, with Adelekan saying “these words have consequences”.

On the opposite bank, a small protest organized by Stop the Hate and Iran’s Lion Guard drew Iranian dissidents and others opposed to the Islamic Republic, some waving Israeli flags.

Scotland Yard used the River Thames as a physical barrier, police boats patrolled the water and Lambeth Bridge was closed to separate the two sides.

Both demonstrations were confined to the stretch between Vauxhall and Lambeth Bridges and were only allowed between 1pm and 3pm.

Both demonstrations ended at 3 pm, with police saying the security plan had worked and neither side had tried to violate the terms by marching.