The government has approved a request from the Metropolitan Police to ban the annual Al-Quds day march in London, which was due to take place this Sunday. The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said the decision was necessary to prevent ‘serious public disorder’. The Met cited the expected scale of the protest, the likelihood of large counter-demonstrations, and the wider tensions generated by the conflict in the Middle East.

Each year the same scenes returned: Hezbollah banners, chants celebrating the ‘resistance’, speakers denouncing Zionism as an open expression of hostility towards Jews

Each year the same scenes returned: Hezbollah banners, chants celebrating the ‘resistance’, speakers denouncing Zionism as an open expression of hostility towards Jews

The march itself will not take place. A stationary protest may still occur under strict conditions. While this is a significant decision, it is also absurdly late.

For decades the Al-Quds march has been an annual fixture on London’s streets, typically held towards the end of Ramadan. It traces its origins to 1979, when Ruhollah Khomeini declared an international day of protest against Israel following the Iranian Revolution. In London it has been organised primarily by the Islamic Human Rights Commission and has taken place for roughly 40 years.

Every year the same arguments were made. Every year the same warnings were issued. And every year the British state concluded that nothing could be done. Until now.

The Home Office and the police say the threshold for banning a march is extremely high. That is true.........

© The Spectator