The Revolutionary Communist Party alleged that “several comrades were shoved, punched and fell to the floor. A handful sustained head injuries but are otherwise fine”, as 11 members of RCP were arrested.
There were approximately over 700 communists present at the protest, though numbers are not verifiable. A total of 20 arrests took place throughout the protest according to the Metropolitan Police. Amongst RCP members, some UCL students were present at the event.
The initial arrest occurred when one of the RCP members allegedly refused to remove his face mask which resulted in a 45-minute standoff between the City of London police and the RCP members and supporters in the Communist bloc.
The Met had outlined the conditions for the protest on 9 October, one condition being that they would arrest anyone who refuses to remove a face covering.
“We will also be using powers under the Public Order Act requiring anyone in the protest area wearing face coverings to deliberately conceal their identity to remove them.”
The standoff intensified as police barricaded themselves between the protestors and the arrested member. Protestors standing on top of the Battle of Britain Monument called for his release.
Whilst protestors were chanting “tout le monde déteste la police” (Everyone hates the police), more police arrived and blocked access to the monument entirely.
Members of the RCP, who were standing on top of the monument got down as the police started to usher the RCP members and supporters to the protest end point.
The Met Police on Twitter noted, “we are aware of social media footage of other possible offences being committed at the protest. Officers on the ground are assessing and investigating.”
RCP views on Palestine
The Cheese Grater spoke to Jamie Bradshaw, a UCL PhD student, who told us that to tackle the crisis in Palestine “we have to put confidence in the masses of people, in the Arab working class, in the workers of Europe, who have been striking, who have been protesting for years, in solidarity with the Palestinians.”
Another UCL student said that “the aim of the protest is to get Britain's hands off Palestine”.
“Protesting itself isn’t enough of an action, but it’s really important to keep showing up and keep going to those demonstrations, because visibility is important.”
“Every time the energy here [at protest] is electric, because everyone is here out of the humanity in their hearts, and out of the pure rage they feel.”
The Revolutionary Communist Party has been declaring for three years that the Labour government has provided political, financial, and military support to Israel’s genocide.
They feel as though they are being made to pay for the crisis of a bankrupt system, as the government pursues so-called imperialist policies. Bradshaw further went on to say that “We don’t believe in the lies, the crocodile tears, of the Labour government, and establishment.”
“We want to overthrow British imperialism, to stop the genocide and to liberate all the oppressed peoples around the world, starting with the Palestinians.”