Story summary
The Metropolitan Police expects hundreds of students to participate in pro-Palestinian marches in London on October 7, marking three years since Hamas's attack on Israel. Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman expressed concerns about the impact these protests might have on Jewish communities and urged demonstrators to reconsider their actions due to the significant date.
Despite police warnings not to wear face coverings or chant inflammatory slogans, some protesters ignored these instructions during a march from Lincoln's Inn Fields towards Russell Square. The rally caused traffic disruptions and was heavily policed, with officers maintaining order along the route.
Protesters chanted "From the river to the sea Palestine will be free," referring to Israel's destruction, while others carried placards that referenced both the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The Met is actively working with universities to identify organizers from the shadowy University of London Coalition, responsible for organizing the event.
Meanwhile, critics like Mark Rose called for a complete ban on such protests due to their support for terrorist organizations and descriptions of them as celebrations of mass murder, rape, and torture. Others have pointed out that these demonstrations are part of a broader strategy by Israel's enemies to delegitimize it through organized campaigns spanning decades.
Written for “October 7 Protests” on 2026-10-08,
grounded in this article and the 13 other(s) covering the same event.
Just by Holborn Tube station, I heard the most priceless chant of the day.
asserted
I → hear → day
'Here's our message to the cops,' they cried.
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they → cry → cops
Here in the middle of the working week were a band of students (a few of them, it must be said, decidedly mature) holding up the London traffic in order to celebrate the murder of 1,200 civilians - plus the rape and kidnapping of many more.
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it → work → more
And they had the temerity to lecture the rest of us on seeking gainful employment.
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they → have → employment
If anyone is likely to face problems securing a job in future, it is likely to be this lot, since anyone spotted on this demonstration may not be allowed anywhere near a position of responsibility for some time.
uncertain
anyone → face → time
Given that the police had banned face coverings at this event, and that the world's media were filming every step of the way, these marchers were certainly taking a risk in making their visceral anti-Semitism quite so brazen.
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Semitism → give → risk
Hence many of them were hiding behind umbrellas, sunglasses, tight-wrapped Palestinian keffiyehs and medical facemasks.
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many → hide → umbrellas
The police had ample grounds to lift several of them for a clear breach of the rules but only nabbed a handful.
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police → have → handful
Nor did they rise to the usual anti-Israel 'From The River To The Sea/Palestine Will Be Free' repertoire.
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Palestine → rise → repertoire
Officers only really asserted themselves later, creating a human barrier between the Hamas fan club and a rather larger counter-demonstration which turned out in Russell Square.
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which → assert → Square
Opposition was inevitable given the gratuitously offensive and incendiary timing of the march by an outfit calling itself 'The University of London Coalition'.
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Opposition → give → London
Whatever one's view on Israel's bombardment of Gaza, October 7 was not the occasion to march for the eradication of the Jewish homeland - as the Government and police had made clear with multiple pleas for this protest (Defence Secretary Wes Streeting called it 'shameful') to be called off.
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Streeting → march → it
Pro-Palestine demonstrators take to the streets of central London on the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks in Israel
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demonstrators → take → Israel
A protester with an Israeli flag attends a counter-protest by 'Stop the Hate' during a pro-Palestinian student march
Around 150 in number, they were demanding an end not just to 'genocide' in Gaza but to the state of Israel itself.
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they → attend → Israel
This on the very day when people around the world were remembering all those killed in the bloodiest anti-Jewish atrocity since the Holocaust.
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people → remember → Holocaust
The message of the student march was clear: they deserved it.
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they → deserve → it
The public might wonder how the police could, for example, shut down the town of Gosport, Hants, at the weekend to prevent a protest against the arrival of a migrant boat but were unable to stop a protest in the heart of London designed to cause maximum outrage among Britain's Jewish community.
uncertain
police → wonder → community
The Metropolitan Police had issued a statement in advance saying 'the police cannot ban protests and can only ask the Home Secretary to do so if the risk of serious disorder is so high that it can't be managed by conditions.
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it → issue → conditions
That high bar is not met here.
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bar → meet → ?
The difference between the two sides was the counter-demonstration was organised by an outfit called Stop The Hate and had a designated organiser who was given clear instructions by the police where he could protest.
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he → organise → police
Section 11 of the Public Order Act says that a protest must have a named organiser.
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protest → say → organiser
The student marchers, conveniently, had not identified one, yet the police said that they were still unable to stop them.
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they → identify → them
This had been billed as a march between London University's two main hubs, King's College and University College.
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This → bill → hubs
The police had preordained a start point, at Lincoln's Inn Fields, and an end point, half a mile away, at Russell Square with a 90-minute window.
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police → preordain → window
Stray beyond that - or cover your face - and you risked arrest.
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you → stray → arrest
The pro-Palestinians had clustered together in a circle at Lincoln's Inn, with banners and keffiyehs stretched around them as a defensive wall while they recited various oaths inside the huddle: 'No press! No comment!
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they → cluster → press
Setting off in the rain, they stuck to the usual 'Free Palestine' medley and no further comment - for the most part.
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they → set → part
One man was happy to give vent when I asked him why they had chosen to support Hamas on the day that Hamas had murdered 1,200 people, kickstarting a war.
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Hamas → give → war
1,200 people didn't die,' he shouted.
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he → die → ?
'Hundreds of thousands of people died in the last three years.
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thousands → die → years
Today, people are going to die.
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people → go → ?
Yes, today is the right day to march!
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today → march → ?
Marching alongside, draped in a Union flag and with a trio of police officers hovering around him, was counter-protester Dominic Glazebrook, 58, who said a sheer sense of outrage had impelled him to get a train from the West Midlands that morning.
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sense → march → Midlands
Protesters outside Holborn station at a pro-Palestine demonstration on October 7 last year
A demonstrator hold the Palestinian flag in the London during the protests in London
'Free Palestine - from Hamas!', he shouted, before switching tack: 'If everyone hates Israel, why does everyone vote for them at Eurovision?'
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everyone → hold → Eurovision
Dissenting voices continued to grow as the march progressed.
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march → continue → ?
'365 days they have to protest and they choose today to raise the Palestinian flag - the flag that went to massacre Israelis on the worst day since the Holocaust!' shouted Yoseph Haddad, an Israeli Arab, jumping into their path.
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Haddad → have → path
I'm here to remember two brave Arab Israelis who were killed on October 7 trying to save Jewish Israelis.
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who → remember → Israelis
He was wearing a T-shirt covered in a QR code linking to footage of some of the atrocities.
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He → wear → atrocities
Scan it!' he shouted at all comers.
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he → scan → comers
'Just don't eat before you watch it.'
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you → eat → it
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
