Qud riddance! Police cancel pro-Iran Al-Quds Day march in London

A pro-Iran regime rally due to take place in central London this Sunday has been cancelled after the Metropolitan Police asked the government to intervene and stop the event.

Jewish News understands that Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley approached Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Tuesday evening, urging that the annual Al-Quds Day march should not be permitted to proceed. Following discussions, the Home Office and City Hall confirmed the event will not go ahead.

Announcing her decision to ban the march, Shabana Mahmood said she was “satisfied doing so is necessary to prevent serious public disorder, due to the scale of the protest and multiple counter-protests, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East”.

She added: “Should a stationary demonstration proceed, the police will be able to apply strict conditions.

“I expect to see the full force of the law applied to anyone spreading hatred and division instead of exercising their right to peaceful protest.”

The march had been scheduled to take place in central London this weekend – just weeks after the regime’s massacre of its own citizens.

Al-Quds Day was established in 1979 by Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as a global day of demonstrations against Israel and in support of the Palestinian cause. Since the early 1980s, rallies marking the day have been held in several cities around the world, including London.

The London event has long been controversial because of its association with the Iranian regime and the presence in previous years of imagery and symbols linked to terror groups aligned with Tehran. Prior to the proscription of both Hezbollah and Hamas in the UK, flags and banners linked to those organisations were frequently seen at the march.

The event has typically been organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), described in the government-commissioned Shawcross Review of Prevent in 2023 as “an Islamist group ideologically aligned with the Iranian regime”.

In recent years, demonstrators have also carried placards praising Iran’s leadership and calling for the destruction of Israel, prompting repeated criticism from Jewish organisations and community leaders who have questioned why the rally has been allowed to take place in the capital.

This year’s planned march had drawn heightened concern amid the ongoing conflict involving Iran and growing scrutiny of Tehran’s activities abroad. This week police were granted more time to question four men arrested last Friday on suspicion of spying for Iran on locations and individuals linked to the Jewish community in the UK.

In a statement on the organisation’s website, the IHRC said it “strongly condemns” the decision and was seeking legal advice.

Confirming a “static protest” will go ahead on Sunday, the statement said: “The police have brazenly abandoned their sworn principle of policing without fear or favour. They cannot present evidence because there is none. In essence, this is a politically charged decision, not one taken for the security of the people of London.”

A CST spokesperson said: “We strongly welcome the actions taken by the police and home secretary, which comes after Iranian arrests for allegedly targeting Jews. It shows the unprecedented volatility of the current situation and how extreme such marches have always been, up to and beyond what the law has allowed at any given time. We note that static Quds Day events may yet go ahead, as do many other pro-Iranian regime actions.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomed the decision to ban the march, saying it was “a positive development” and adding: “Allowing this hate-fest to go ahead would have sent the message that Islamists rule the roost in Britain.”