Overview
- The UK Home Secretary approved a one‑month ban on Al‑Quds Day marches in London, allowing only static assemblies, in the first use of this power since 2012.
- The Met set strict conditions for Sunday’s events, placing the Al‑Quds assembly on Albert Embankment and counter‑protesters on Millbank, confined between Vauxhall and Lambeth bridges from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. with Lambeth Bridge closed.
- Police warned they will arrest anyone who marches or incites marching and will act on hate crimes, support for proscribed groups, and chants such as “intifada,” with at least 1,000 officers and mutual aid deployed.
- In Ontario, Justice Robert Centa dismissed the province’s last‑minute injunction bid to halt Toronto’s Al‑Quds rally, finding insufficient evidence to justify blocking it, and the event proceeded outside the U.S. Consulate under an expanded police operation and restricted airspace.
- Political leaders pressed for limits while civil liberties groups defended Charter rights, and UK policing officials referenced heightened risks and Iranian‑linked threats as factors shaping their operational decisions.