The UK Home Secretary has approved a request from the Metropolitan Police to ban a pro-Palestinian march planned for Sunday “to prevent serious public disorder” in the shadow of the war in the Middle East.
The annual Al Quds Day march in London had drawn criticism over perceived backing for the Iranian regime after its organisers expressed support for Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Several counter-protests were also planned for the same day.
Announcing her decision to ban the march, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was “satisfied doing so is necessary to prevent serious public disorder, due to the scale of the protest and multiple counter-protests, in the context of the continuing conflict in the Middle East”.
Due to a legal technicality, the march has been banned but a stationary protest has not.
She added: “Should a stationary demonstration proceed, the police will be able to apply strict conditions.
“I expect to see the full force of the law applied to anyone spreading hatred and division instead of exercising their right to peaceful protest.”
The Islamic Human Rights Commission, which organised the protest, has previously insisted the demonstration is always “good natured and peaceful”.
In a statement on the organisation’s website, the IHRC said it “strongly condemns” the decision and was seeking legal advice.
Confirming a “static protest” will go ahead on Sunday, the statement said: “The police have brazenly abandoned their sworn principle of policing without fear or favour. They cannot present evidence because there is none.
“In essence, this is a politically charged decision, not one taken for the security of the people of London.”
It is the first time since 2012 that a protest march has been banned.
The Metropolitan Police said previous Al Quds Day marches resulted in arrests for supporting terrorist organisations and anti-Semitic hate crimes.
In a statement, the force said: “The decision to ban it this year is purely based on a risk assessment of this specific protest and counter-protests – we do not police taste or decency or prefer one political view over another, but we will do everything we can to reduce violence and disorder.”
The Met said the “uniquely complex” international situation and “severe” risks meant merely placing conditions on the protest “will not be sufficient to prevent it from resulting in serious public disorder”.
It added that it would place “strict conditions” on any static protest, which the law does not allow the police or government to ban, but “given the tension, we have to accept that confrontations could still take place”.
The decision follows calls from Labour and Conservative MPs to ban the march.
On Tuesday, courts minister Sarah Sackman said people expressing support for “the malign regime in Iran” should not be “on the streets of London calling for hate and hostility against this country”.
Shadow Home Office Minister Alicia Kearns also called for the march to be cancelled, saying there was “no place in our country for the celebration of terrorists”.
A spokesman for the IHRC, Faisal Bodi, told the BBC that it was “a sad day for freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the right of people to legitimately protest about issues they feel strongly about”.
He added: “This demonstration has taken place for the last 40 years peacefully.”
The IHRC has previously expressed support for Iran’s late supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Following his death in a US-Israeli air strike last month, the group said Mr Khamenei “chose to stand on the right side of history” and described him as “a rare role model” who would be “mourned by freedom loving people all over the world”.
The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism welcomed the decision to ban the march, saying it was “a positive development” and adding: “Allowing this hate-fest to go ahead would have sent the message that Islamists rule the roost in Britain”.
