Thousands gather for London pro-Palestinian rally

The event, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, began at RussellSquare in the city centre before attendees marched to Trafalgar Square for amid-afternoon rally.
A smaller number of demonstrators also turned out for a counter-protest insupport of Israel, with lines of police separating the two gatherings, reports BSS.
London has seen numerous large-scale pro-Palestinian protests since Israelmounted its military response to Hamas's unprecedented attack on October 7, aswell as smaller pro-Israel counter-demonstrations.
The rallies for Palestinians have proved contentious, attracting criticismfor fuelling a hostile environment towards Jewish people. Some rulingConservative lawmakers have branded them "hate marches".
Police have made dozens of arrests for anti-Semitic chanting and banners,promoting a proscribed organisation and assaulting emergency workers.
But organisers insist they are exercising their democratic rights and thatlaw-breakers are a tiny minority of the sometimes tens of thousands of peoplewho turned out.
Sally Worgan, 65, a retired social worker, had travelled fromGloucestershire in western England to attend.
"I think it's important for the Palestinian people to know that people dosupport them, that they're not just on their own," she told AFP.
"We will keep marching," Ben Jamal, one of the organisers, told Sky News onSaturday, adding attendees wanted "a permanent ceasefire" and more aid to bedelivered to Palestinians in Gaza.
"We already know that 70 percent of the British public according to opinionpolls support the demands that we're making."
By mid-afternoon, London's Metropolitan Police said officers had arrestedone man "on suspicion of a terrorism-related offence in relation to invitingsupport for a proscribed organisation".
The force had said in the build-up to Saturday that it had "a robustpolicing plan in place", including requiring marchers keep to a pre-approvedroute and disperse by 5:00 pm (1700 GMT).
"Anyone who fails to comply with the conditions will be dealt with byofficers," the force had added on social media.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier this month called for officers to taketougher action against protesters at such events, saying they "had descendedinto intimidation, threats and planned acts of violence".