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London's Met Police arrest organiser of national Gaza rally | Middle East Eye
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href="/live/live-trump-envoy-urges-netanyahu-reach-ceasefire-deal" hreflang="en">Live: Israeli captives released as Palestinian families await release of prisoners</a></strong></div><div class="title"><h1>London's Met Police arrest organiser of national Gaza rally</h1></div><div class="submitted-date"><span class="date-created">19 January 2025 12:41 GMT</span></div> <picture> <source srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/2025-01/2025-01-19T081329Z_1697324361_RC2WCCA40I86_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA%20%281%29.jpg.webp?itok=x5Iuoq_S 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="875"/> <img class="live-main-image" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/2025-01/2025-01-19T081329Z_1697324361_RC2WCCA40I86_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA%20%281%29.jpg.webp?itok=x5Iuoq_S 1x" width="1400" height="875" src="/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2025-01/2025-01-19T081329Z_1697324361_RC2WCCA40I86_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA%20%281%29.jpg.jpg?itok=EKynkCin" typeof="foaf:Image" /> </picture> </div> </div> <section class="page-main-content"> <a href="#main-content" aria-label="Main content" id="main-content" class="visually-hidden" tabindex="-1"></a> <div class="region region-content"> <section id="block-meesocialshare" class="block block-mee-social-share block-mee-social-share-block clearfix"> <div class="mee-social-share-block"> <div class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons"></div> </div> </section> <article data-history-node-id="417226" about="/live-blog/live-blog-update/londons-met-police-arrest-organiser-national-gaza-rally" class="live-blog-update full clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>The <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/uk" target="_blank">London </a>Metropolitan Police arrested one of the organisers of the pro-<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine" target="_blank">Palestine</a> rally on Saturday in central London after imposing restrictions banning protesters from marching towards the headquarters of the BBC.</p> <p>The police said 77 arrests were made during Saturday鈥檚 protest, which organisers estimated drew 100,000 people. </p> <p>Among those arrested was Chris Nineham, the vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition, who served as the chief steward for the national protest for Palestine.</p> <p>Footage taken by Middle East Eye showed police officers in riot gear surrounding Nineham and bundling him into the back of a police van after a small group of protesters left Whitehall to lay flowers in Trafalgar Square in commemoration of the deaths of Palestinian children.</p> <p>Key restrictions imposed by the police included a ban on beginning the march outside the BBC, citing concerns about its proximity to a synagogue. </p> <p>On Saturday, protest organisers said coalition leaders, several speakers and members of the Jewish Bloc would walk silently towards the BBC. </p> <p>The plan was to lay flowers as a symbolic gesture to condemn what they described as the BBC's complicity in its Gaza coverage. </p> <p>Organisers denied claims made by the Met that protesters had forced their way through a police cordon to march towards the BBC after ending their protest in Whitehall.</p> <p>The Met said it was launching an investigation and claimed there was a "coordinated effort led by the protest organisers to march out of Whitehall in a clear breach of the conditions".</p> <p>鈥淭here is video footage of one of the organisers clearly inciting the crowd to join a march and one of the organisations involved has released a statement this evening confirming as much," said Commander Adam Slonecki, who led the policing operation. </p> <h3>Read More: <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/london-met-police-arrest-protest-organiser-national-gaza-rally">London's Met Police arrests organiser of national Gaza rally</a></h3> <figure role="group" class="media-block"> <div class="group-inner"> <div alt="Chris Nineham gestures from a police van in central London on 18 January " data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d676f785-319e-419c-b507-4150c36871b5" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"> <img src="/sites/default/files/images-story/ChrisNinehamprotest-Palestine-Supplied-January-18%281%29.jpg" width="1066" height="600" alt="Chris Nineham gestures from a police van in central London on 18 January " typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"> </div> <figcaption>Chris Nineham gestures from a police van in central London on 18 January 2025 (Supplied: PSC)</figcaption> </div> </figure> <p><span style="background: 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