Israel is a terror state

Depressingly it is still necessary to show public support for Palestine despite the recent ICJ ruling against Israel as our government is still backing the wrong side and doing so with direct support, including weapons that are being used to kill civilians.

We started at Portland Place, home to the BBC but not our target, and took a simple route past Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square before passing along Whitehall to Parliament Square.

Unlike all the previous marches there was an incident this time.

I was marching with the Socialist Workers Party group (I am not a member but am broadly supportive) and soon after we entered Haymarket a small Police snatch squad swooped in and took someone they had clearly targeted plus one other who got involved. The two were dragged into Panton Street where a line of police officers stopped us following. There were quite a few of us and the police called in several groups of reinforcement, though there was no physical contact.

For bout twenty minutes we chanted at them, things like "Let Her Go!", while they took lots of photographs of us. We were soon joined by some Legal Observers and also by several people giving out leaflets on what to do if arrested. It was good to see an organised response but worrying that police action made it necessary.

The stalemate was ended when the two were taken away in a van and we rejoined the march that had been carrying on behind us for all that time, despite us starting towards the back. There were a lot of people there.