London Police Establish Exclusion Zone Around Cenotaph War Memorial, Can Arrest Any Palestine Protester in Area

The Metropolitan Police have announced an ‘exclusion zone’ around the Cenotaph memorial on Whitehall, Westminster, saying anyone “believed to be part of” pro-Palestinian demonstrations inside that area “can be arrested”.

London is due to see Armistice Day commemorations, a major Israel-Palestine protest, and the ancient Lord Mayor’s Show all take place within a matter of hours on Saturday, and while there have been calls for the protest to be banned as not in keeping with the sombre commemoration of the 105th anniversary of the end of the Great War, police instead have published a management plan. The Palestine protest will go ahead, but is being confined to a marching route to the west of Westminster, going around the Royal Green Park, the back of Buckingham Palace, through Pimlico and over the river Thames into Vauxhall.

To protect national remembrance events and locations, particularly the Cenotaph, an exclusion zone will be put in place covering Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade, the Westminster Abbey Field of Remembrance and other relevant areas. pic.twitter.com/zIZSeuqYRA

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) November 10, 2023

In their statement, the force acknowledged that breakaway groups splitting off from the main Palestine march route and then causing violence has been “escalating” over repeated events in recent weeks and vowed to use their powers to try and stop this, including threatening to arrest those who refuse to disperse. Nevertheless, to underline the order on Palestine protesters to stick to the authorised route, Police have also announced three exclusion zones in London for the weekend and a 24-hour police guard for the Cenotaph memorial itself.

The first of the exclusion zones is centred around the Cenotaph and surrounding streets in Westminster including Horseguards Parade and Parliament Square. “Anyone believed to be part of, or associated with, the pro-Palestinian demonstration trying to assemble in this area can be arrested”, said the force.

Another two zones have been established at the Israeli embassy and the U.S. embassy, both frequently targets for protests.

1,850 police officers will be on duty on Armistice Day Saturday, and 1,375 on Remembrance Sunday, when the King and a host of other dignitaries are due to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph in the now longstanding ceremony of national remembrance for the end of the First World War.

Another issue acknowledged by the police in their statement was the protesters travelling to previous pro-Palestine demonstrations driving through Jewish residential areas on their way and “waving flags and shouting anti-Semitic abuse.” The Metropolitan Police said they would “intervene” to keep convoys from outside London out of Jewish communities and would deploy “specialist traffic officers in cars and on motorcycles”.

In all, this weekend’s police operation to keep the various events taking place apart from each other is to be “far greater and more complex than we’ve delivered before”, the Met said.

Beyond the Armistice Day commemorations at the Cenotaph on Saturday and the Palestine march through Victoria, Saturday is also due to see London host the annual and acient pageont of the Lord Mayor’s Show. Taking place east of Westminster in the City of London, the event has been running for over 800 years and features an impressive parade of military units and civic functionaries in elaborate historic uniforms.

Among the spectacles is the new Lord Mayor of London processing in a horse-drawn golden coach, lancers, military bands, and a company of pikemen. But for all the pomp and pageantry, it is a major event expecting up to half a million spectators and comes with security concerns of its own. As reported by London broadcaster LBC this week, green extremists are planning to disrupt the event, which previously happened in the 2021 event.