UK pro-Palestine protest organisers 'alarmed' after Sunak warns war memorial risks 'desecration'

Pro-Palestinian protest organisers have expressed alarm after UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said an important London war memorial risked desecration next weekend on Armistice Day, an annual date of mourning for those killed in World War One.

Six pro-Palestinian groups – the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of al-Aqsa, the Stop the War Coalition, the Muslim Association of Britain, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament – have organised a march in London for 11 November.

They have been holding weekly demonstrations in the British capital and elsewhere amid Israel's indiscriminate war on Gaza, which has so far killed nearly 9,500 people in the besieged enclave.

Sunak wrote to Mark Rowley, commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, saying that planning protests for Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War One in 1918, was "provocative and disrespectful".

He added that there was a "clear and present risk" that London's key Cenotaph war monument and other memorials "could be desecrated".

Sunak said he had asked Home Secretary Suella Braverman to support the Met Police in doing "everything necessary to protect the sanctity of Armistice Day" as well as Remembrance Sunday the following day – another occasion for mourning.

Sunak, who said "a number of protests are currently planned to disrupt" acts of remembrance next weekend, listed powers available to the police to deal with demonstrations, including putting conditions in place. He added that decisions to use these powers were independent of politicians.

Braverman said it was "entirely unacceptable to desecrate Armistice Day with a hate march through London", adding that if the protest takes place there is an "obvious risk of public disorder, violence, and damage" and "giving offence to millions of decent British people".

But the six pro-Palestinian groups issued a statement saying they had been clear they didn't intend to march on or near Whitehall, where the Cenotaph is located, so as not to disrupt events at the memorial.

"We are alarmed by members of the government, including the prime minister, issuing statements suggesting that the march is a direct threat to the Cenotaph and designed to disrupt the Remembrance Day commemorations," they said.

"Such statements are encouraging the calls from far-right activists and commentators who appear to be inciting action on the streets to stop the protests taking place and are deeply irresponsible.

"Given the wider context of the previous statements by the home secretary seeking to demonise all of those marching in support of the rights of the Palestinian people, it is clear that these further statements are motivated by a desire to suppress widespread public support for an end to Israel's bombardment of the people of Gaza."

The pro-Palestinian groups said their planned route is from Hyde Park to the US embassy and they anticipate the march will start at about 12:45, almost two hours after a commemorative two-minute silence is held at 11:00.

Rowley, the Met Police commissioner, replied to Sunak's letter by saying the force would take a "robust approach".

He said he had set out his intent to use all powers available, including imposing conditions if necessary, to ensure events in Whitehall and elsewhere "are not undermined".

Rowley said the rights to peaceful assembly and protest are protected by law but must be balanced against other responsibilities.

"I am acutely aware that as we balance these rights we must consider the cumulative impact of continued protest, increasing community tensions, rising anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes and the very real concerns of Jewish communities about safety in London," he added.

"This impact means our approach is becoming sharper and will continue to develop in the coming days and be kept under continued review."

It comes as the British Transport Police said they had made five arrests for alleged failure to comply with a notice banning a pro-Palestinian protest at the major King's Cross train station in London on Friday.

The government's transport secretary, Mark Harper, said he had given consent for police to make an order to stop the demonstration.