London police: 20 right-wing, 12 anti-Israel protesters arrested in dueling rallies

London police said Sunday that they arrested 20 people the previous day at a massive march organized by anti-Muslim activist Tommy Robinson, and 12 people at a counter-demonstration fused with an anti-Israel protest.

The city’s Metropolitan Police — which had already disclosed making 43 arrests Saturday after tens of thousands of people attended the dueling events — said 11 of those detained were either non-affiliated or their links were unconfirmed.

The force had mounted its biggest operation in years to manage both Robinson’s “Unite the Kingdom” march and the anti-fascism rally organized by the Stand Up to Racism group, combined with protests marking Nakba Day, which commemorates the displacement of Palestinians in the war surrounding the establishment of Israel in 1948.

Police had feared clashes after violent confrontations at Robinson’s last London event in September — when up to 150,000 people turned out — and at dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid the war sparked in Gaza by the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023.

Robinson’s rally drew about 60,000 attendees, while the Nakba Day gathering drew 15,000 to 20,000, according to Met estimates cited by UK media.

The force did not respond to an AFP request for comment on the numbers. Organizers of both marches had claimed far greater turnouts.

In its arrests update Sunday, the Met said there were 11 arrests for offenses related to hate crimes, with nine of those people arrested at Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom event and two others at the Nakba Day march.

“They included offenses motivated by race, religion, sexuality and disability,” the force said, adding that a further seven suspected hate crimes at the Nakba protest remain under investigation.

The other arrests at Robinson’s rally ranged from public order and drunk and disorderly offenses to suspects being held for previous grievous bodily harm and telecommunications offenses.

There were two arrests for assault on an emergency worker and one for possession of an offensive weapon.

At the Nakba Day demonstration, the arrests included three for failing to remove a face covering, one for assault on an emergency worker and one for supporting a proscribed organization.

Robinson — a former soccer hooligan turned pro-Israel far-right activist whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — had urged his attendees not to wear masks or drink excessive alcohol, and to be “peaceful and courteous.”

From a stage in Parliament Square, which featured various far-right and other speakers, he claimed to be spearheading a “cultural revolution,” and urged attendees to get politically active ahead of “the battle of Britain” in 2029, when the country’s next general election is due.