London police slammed for blocking pro-Palestine march near BBC headquarters

Pro-Palestinian campaigners have criticised London's Metropolitan Police after banning a planned protest outside the BBC’s Broadcasting House.

Organisers from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) had intended to stage the demonstration on January 18, but were told their planned route—passing near London's Central Synagogue—could cause significant disruption to Jewish Shabbat services.

Ben Jamal, director of the PSC, condemned the decision, explaining that Saturdays are vital for nationwide participation in such protests.

"On Sundays, the transport situation is terrible, so Saturday is the day we demonstrate," he said, stressing that the police’s actions prevent lawful and peaceful protest.

The BBC headquarters are located just a few hundred yards away from the Central Synagogue on Great Portland Street. The Met Police argue that the march risks causing disturbances to the congregation attending Shabbat services.

However, the PSC insists their planned march would not have passed the synagogue, and they accuse the police of reversing an earlier agreement that had cleared the protest route.

Campaigners also argued that no previous pro-Palestinian protests had posed a threat to the synagogue, urging that public order laws should not be used to shield the BBC from scrutiny.

The PSC branded the police’s intervention an infringement on democratic rights, adding: "The BBC is a publicly funded state broadcaster and is rightly accountable to the public."

The police threatened to use the Public Order Act to impose restrictions if the organisers insisted on proceeding with the protest as planned.

Holocaust Survivors and Descendants Against Gaza Genocide said the move is a "severe attack on any right to protest". Co-organiser Mark Etkind told The New Arab: "There are synagogues across London as well as other conurbations so, if they get away with this, this ban will enable the police to ban Gaza demos right across the country.

"The ban is simply a crude attempt to dissuade people from taking to the streets and opposing our Government's shameless support for the Gaza genocide. It has nothing to do with protecting Jews from antisemitism."

A Met Police spokesperson told The New Arab: "We have carefully considered the likely impact of the PSC’s plans, including feedback from community representatives and the synagogue congregation.

"Our primary duty is to balance the right to protest with the need to prevent serious disruption to local residents and businesses."

The row comes following increased scrutiny of the Metropolitan Police's handling of pro-Palestinian protests.

In November, the police arrested Haim Bresheeth, an Israeli professor, under anti-terrorism laws after he spoke at a demonstration organised by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.

Bresheeth was accused of "hate speech" following remarks calling for the deportation of Israel's right-wing ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely. His arrest has raised concerns about the policing of protests and free speech, particularly among pro-Palestinian activists.