London police arrest 31 amid massive anti-migrant protest, smaller anti-Israel march |
Tens of thousands of people rallied Saturday in London at a march organized by far-right activist Tommy Robinson and at a smaller counter-demonstration fused with a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protest. London’s Metropolitan Police said in the afternoon that they had arrested 31 people in total from both demonstrations.
Police deployed 4,000 officers, including reinforcements from outside the capital, and pledged “the most assertive possible use of our powers” in what they called their biggest public order operation in years. They had earlier forecast turnout of at least 80,000 for Saturday’s rallies.
The force also deployed horses, dogs, drones and helicopters to manage Robinson’s so-called Unite the Kingdom march and the rival rally marking Nakba Day, an annual Palestinian event commemorating the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, when the nascent state came under attack by multiple Arab armies.
Mustering in west London and ending with speeches near Piccadilly, it combined with an anti-fascism march organized by the Stand Up to Racism group.
The Unite the Kingdom march started from Holborn in the capital’s heart, before Robinson and other speakers addressed crowds in Parliament Square.
In a late afternoon update, police said the dueling events “have proceeded largely without significant incident” and that officers had made 31 arrests in total up to that point.
Aerial footage broadcast by UK media showed tens of thousands at Robinson’s rally — a sea of British Union Jack, English St George’s and other flags — while an AFP reporter estimated only several thousand at the counter-protest.
“Immigration’s the main concern,” Christine Turner, 66, from northeast England, told AFP from the Unite the Kingdom march.
“We’re an island. We’ve got a clear border that they’re not protecting. Something needs to be done. It’s gone on too long.”
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