500 pigs, 20 horses, 16 dogs, 2 starbucks - Sat 17th London Gaza march banned
fitwatcher | 19.01.2009 12:29 | Analysis | Palestine | Repression
arbitrary roadblocks on Haymarket
not so random destruction
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Clearly, such ill-tempered tetchyness from the demonstrators could not be facilitated.
The Met said an appropriate policing response had been prepared (
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What the Met spokesman meant was that any march from Trafalgar Square to the embassy had been banned, in accordance with the well-worn provisions of the Ways and Means Act 1414. The whole area around Trafalgar Square was swollen with van upon van (60+) of bored PSUs & TSG, dog handlers from three forces, horse lorries and of course, surveillance units in 4x4s. On Suffolk Street long and short shields hung in rows on railings, such was the eagerness to facilitate lawful protest.
By 4pm there were approx four to five thousand * people in the square, when the speeches drew to an end. As Tony Benn was being put back in his box, streaks of fluorescent yellow stained the surrounding streets, determined to prevent any serious disruption to the career of Bob Broadhurst.
A section of the crowd exited the square by the South West corner and headed for Pall Mall, where they found themselves surrounded by a formidable number of cops who surrounded them in the now traditional fashion, doubtless "for their own safety".
But it seemed they had overcommitted as other sections of the crowd moved to block Charing Cross Road and Duncannon Street largely unhindered, then thought better of it and headed for Soho and Oxford Street (still aiming to reach the embassy) with police struggling to follow due to the traffic disruption they had themselves caused by blocking the Haymarket / Pall Mall junction.
One group of around 200 protesters jogged down Shaftesbury Avenue, pausing to smash the windows of a Starbucks by Wardour Street, and the windows of another Starbucks on Piccadilly before finally being cut off at Green Park, only metres from a third round of glass lattes.
Meanwhile at the embassy itself there was relative calm, with a shaky ceasefire mostly holding behind the sandbags, but despite this the police still felt the necessity to round everyone up and force them on to trains (
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This week, as Gaza clears its rubble and counts its dead, and the IDF decides how far to pull back, how much to loosen the noose, it's unlikely the rage will go away, next Saturday will probably be one to watch.
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* The Met's official estimate was 3,500 - but we all know they're no better at counting crowds than Geoff Jackson is at counting his units.
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fitwatcher
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defycops(at)yahoo.co.uk
Homepage:
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Additions
Some more photos
19.01.2009 13:11
More photos, mainly of FIT officers, are at
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notsofit
Homepage:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28835541@N05/sets/72157612692835014/
Some more images.
19.01.2009 15:34
A bendy-bus doing a three point turn as police close the roads.
The middle pen, Shaftesbury Avenue.
A man is shoved onto a train, he is later marched out at Victoria.
The police escort on a tube train to Victoria.
Terence Bunch.
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