Video: police tell protesters they can protest at Big Ben if they support Israel, but not Palestine

Crowd that gathered in support of anti-genocide campaigner who climbed clock tower dispersed under Section 14 order

Protesters at the Houses of Parliament – there to support an anti-genocide protester who had scaled the clock tower colloquially known as Big Ben to draw attention to Israel’s mass slaughter of civilians in Gaza and the UK government’s abuse of law to punish those who expose and oppose the genocide – were told yesterday that they would be arrested if they did not disperse, but that anyone there to support Israel would be allowed to remain in counter-protest. Protesters against genocide in Congo and Sudan would also be driven away.

Exclusive images by ‘BetterThanReal’, used with permission below, show the police presence at the pro-Palestinian demo and the protester’s discussion with negotiators trying to get him to descend:

A Met Police inspector, Simon Blondell, approached the anti-genocide gathering and was filmed telling them that they had to disperse or face arrest under Section 14 of the Public Order Act – but that if they had been there to support Israel they would have been allowed to remain:

Section 14 of the Act, which applies to static gatherings – Section 12 applies to marches – states that a dispersal order or ban can be applied to an ‘assembly’ to prevent:

• ‘Serious public disorder’
• ‘Serious damage to property’ 
• ‘Serious disruption to the life of the community’
• ‘Intimidation that is intended to compel someone to not do an act they have a right to do, or to do an act they have the right not to do’

Conditions can also be imposed based on the prospect of noise generated by the procession or assembly causing:

• ‘Serious disruption’ to an organisation located nearby, which means the people in the organisation are ‘not reasonably able’ to do their usual activities ‘for a prolonged period of time’.
• ‘Intimidation, harassment, alarm or distress’ to people nearby the protest.

None of these were a risk in the case of the peaceful demonstration at the Houses of Parliament, which do not sit on weekends except in emergencies. Pro-Israel demonstrations, by contrast, have frequently been characterised by hate, racism and intimidation:

Right-wing anti-Palestinian protesters face assault charges after warrant for failure to show at assault hearings

The protester, who wanted to highlight the Starmer government’s misuse of anti-terror laws to keep the ‘Filton 18’ in prison for more than a year before trial despite them being charged only with criminal damage of an Israeli weapons factory – eventually climbed down from the tower after midnight this morning.

Pro-Israel figures have even been filmed directing the Met on which pro-Palestine protesters they wanted arresting, while the UK state directs its repression and violence against peaceful anti-genocide demonstrators – many of them Jewish – and has even falsely charged them with illegally forcing through a police line despite having been repeatedly filmed inviting them through.

Now what opponents of Israel’s crimes always knew has been said out loud: the rules are different for far-right, apartheid Israel and its supporters, while the Starmer government and its agents abuse law to target Palestinians and their supporters for criminalisation and intimidation.

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