Twelve people were arrested during al-Quds Day protests and a counter-demonstration in London on Sunday, as the Metropolitan police investigate chants of 'death, death to the IDF' led by musician Bobby Vylan. The protests, separated by the River Thames, drew hundreds of participants on each side, with at least 1,000 officers deployed to maintain order.
Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan confirmed the arrests, which included offences such as showing support for a proscribed organisation, affray, and threatening behaviour. The Met is also investigating chants at the al-Quds protest, which took its name from the Arabic for Jerusalem and was established after Iran's 1979 revolution.
Bobby Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, led the same chant at Glastonbury Festival last year. That investigation concluded with no further action taken. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood granted a police request to ban al-Quds protesters from marching, the first such ban since 2012. She said she expects 'the full force of the law' to be applied to anyone spreading hatred.
Police warned demonstrators on the Albert Embankment that they would arrest those displaying placards, flags, or chanting that crossed into hate crime or support of a proscribed organisation. Some protesters carried placards of Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, or his father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei.
Across the Thames, a counterprotest co-organised by Stop the Hate and the Lion Guard of Iran group included supporters of Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran's former monarch. Georgie Stagg, a retired arts administrator, said she had marched on al-Quds Day for 40 years without trouble, adding that the ban on slogans such as 'from the river to the sea' was unfair. Raham Moshami, who fled Iran in 2010, expressed support for Israeli and American actions against Iran, calling the Iranian government 'like a cancer'.
Fereydun Bahrami, who travelled from Glasgow to join the al-Quds protest, carried a placard reading 'Stop Using UK bases to bomb Iran'. He dismissed the counter-protesters as 'brainwashed'. Lambeth Bridge, the nearest crossing to both rallies, remained closed during the afternoon.
