Police have arrested 29 as pro-Palestinian protesters took to London’s Street for the fourth Saturday in a row.
The Metropolitan Police said four officers were injured as fireworks were thrown towards officers.
Meanwhile, British Transport Police (BTP) dispersed sit-ins at stations including Glasgow Central, Manchester Piccadilly, and London’s Charing Cross, with one arrest made in Manchester.
Two people were arrested for terror offences over the wording of their banners, the Met said.
Other arrests were for inciting racial hatred, other racially motivated crimes, violence, and assaulting a police officer.
The force also touted its use of retrospective facial recognition, saying officers were able to identify a man on social media who allegedly made anti-Semitic comments during a speech.
Demonstrators climbed on top of Trafalgar Square’s famous fountains as the mostly peaceful group waved flags and banners on Saturday afternoon, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as the Israel-Hamas war enters the fifth week.
There were scuffles with police as the evening went on, and smaller groups of protesters began moving away from the square.
A similar banner displayed at a protest in Warsaw was condemned by the Israeli ambassador to Poland as “blatant antisemitism.”
At least one protester was seen carrying a banner that read “Let’s keep the world clean” with a picture of an Israeli flag being thrown into a bin.
Other protesters chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” despite the controversy around the slogan’s meaning.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has previously branded the slogan anti-Semitic and claimed that it is “widely understood” to call for the destruction of Israel.
However, pro-Palestinian protesters have contested this definition.
Effigies of dead babies were left on the ground in Trafalgar Square, next to pictures of children and candles.
The Met issued a dispersal order for an area around the square which will remain in force until 1 a.m.
An order was also issued giving officers the power to require someone to remove any item being used to conceal their identity, the force said.
Commander Karen Findlay, who is responsible for policing in London this week, said most of the protest was peaceful but it’s “disappointing that various splinter groups were again responsible for behaviour which has no place in London.”
“Fireworks were directed towards officers and four officers were injured,” she said in a statement.
Among the 29 arrests by the Met, two people were arrested on suspicion of breaching section 12 of the Terrorism Act in relation to the wording of a banner. The Met said the banner appears to support a proscribed organisation.
Three arrests were made for assaulting police officers, and one other was arrested for causing actual bodily harm and a public order offence.
One person was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder, one person was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon, another was arrested for affray, a public order offence, and possession of cannabis, the Met said.
One person was arrested for inciting racial hatred, nine were arrested for public order offences, including two that were racially aggravated, and ten were arrested for breaching a dispersal order, the Met said.
BTP said protesters at Charing Cross station at 4 p.m. stopped some passengers from accessing the trains and platforms. The force was able to disperse the crowd by 5 p.m. with no arrests.
One arrest was made at Manchester Piccadilly, where around 400 to 500 people participated in a sit-in, for a racially aggravated public order offence, BTP said.
In London, 350 people also staged a sit-in protest which shut down Oxford Circus.
The demonstration stopped traffic during the shopping district’s busiest hours, following similar disruptive protests at major stations.
It comes after a week of similar disruptive actions at major UK transport hubs.
PA Media contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times
