London's Met Police arrest organiser of national Gaza rally

The London Metropolitan Police arrested one of the organisers of the pro-Palestine rally on Saturday in central London after imposing restrictions banning protesters from marching towards the headquarters of the BBC.

The police said 77 arrests were made during Saturday’s protest, which organisers estimated drew 100,000 people. 

Among those arrested was Chris Nineham, the vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition, who served as the chief steward for the national protest for Palestine.

Footage taken by Middle East Eye showed police officers in riot gear surrounding Nineham and bundling him into the back of a police van after a small group of protesters left Whitehall to lay flowers in Trafalgar Square in commemoration of the deaths of Palestinian children.

Key restrictions imposed by the police included a ban on beginning the march outside the BBC, citing concerns about its proximity to a synagogue. 

On Saturday, protest organisers said coalition leaders, several speakers and members of the Jewish Bloc would walk silently towards the BBC. 

The plan was to lay flowers as a symbolic gesture to condemn what they described as the BBC's complicity in its Gaza coverage. 

Organisers denied claims made by the Met that protesters had forced their way through a police cordon to march towards the BBC after ending their protest in Whitehall.

The Met said it was launching an investigation and claimed there was a "coordinated effort led by the protest organisers to march out of Whitehall in a clear breach of the conditions".

“There is video footage of one of the organisers clearly inciting the crowd to join a march and one of the organisations involved has released a statement this evening confirming as much," said Commander Adam Slonecki, who led the policing operation. 

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