Never has the Cenotaph, in its 103 years of standing sentry on Whitehall, been “defended” on Armistice Day by a Port Vale fan supping a can of Stella Artois.
“I’m here in case the jihadists get past the police, who’ll probably just let them through anyway,” said Ben Neale, 22, from Tunstall, Staffordshire. “If they do come, they’ll soon wish they hadn’t.”
As it transpired, it was some of his fellow football supporters, backed aggressively by elements of the far right, who broke violently through police lines, toppling over metal barricades, throwing missiles and temporarily forcing officers back as they surged towards the Cenotaph on the anniversary of the end of the first world war.
Many stated explicitly that they had travelled to Whitehall because of comments made by the home secretary, Suella Braverman, who, days earlier, had claimed that police treated football supporters – such as Neale – unfavourably compared to “politically connected minority groups”. “She’s the only one making any sense at the minute. We’re sleepwalking into a race war,” said a middle-aged man who said he was a Sunderland fan but did not want to be named. “Armistice is our day!” he added.
“It’s getting ridiculous, them taking our streets, attacking the Cenotaph,” said another man, a black scarf covering the lower part of his face.
Who’s them? “The Palestinian mob,” he added, echoing the words of Braverman who had also alleged that the police were too soft on “pro-Palestinian mobs”.
As several dozen people scuffled with baton-wielding police during the countdown to the two-minute silence at 11am, the crowd increasingly felt like a hardcore football following at an away game.
Middlesbrough, Rangers and Nottingham Forest flags fluttered in the clear sky. Large numbers wore balaclavas and were clad entirely in black: the street wear of the ultra. Many were drinking heavily. Moments before the silence to remember those lost in conflict, a fug of cannabis smoke drifted above the crowd.
Broken briefly by a police helicopter, the silence itself concluded with polite applause and chants of “Ingerland, Ingerland.”
As promised, plenty of the far right had turned up. The Democratic Football Lads Alliance, a football hooligan network set up after the terror attacks of 2017, was among those present. So too was Tommy Robinson, founder of the anti-Muslim English Defence League, who had positioned himself in the middle of the throng, basking in the adulation of fresh-faced supporters who periodically chanted his first name.
Others, though, had gathered to pay their respects rather than “defend” the Cenotaph. Some even detected similarities between themselves and the pro-Palestinian demonstrators about to start their march two miles away.
Jake Taylor, 27, one of whose ancestors died near the Belgian city of Ypres in the first world war, said: “We’re both supporting the same thing. It’s ironic that the pro-Palestinian protesters are campaigning for a ceasefire, which is what Armistice Day is about.”
Later, as the gathering of about 2,000 left the Cenotaph, large groups were seen heading towards where the huge pro-Palestinian march was beginning to assemble, a 10-minute walk away.
For a few minutes, the Observer accompanied one such group which – after blaming each other for losing Robinson somewhere near Trafalgar Square – set off briskly along Pall Mall.
“This’ll be tasty,” said one, clutching a union jack and Israeli flag as he began to jog. Moments later, a line of officers from the Met’s Territorial Support Group approached: the group quickly turned and bolted back the way they had come.
Across central London, a giant game of cat and mouse unfolded between police and counter-protesters as the latter attempted to reach the pro-Palestinian march. Groups of men could be seen hiding from officers in pubs; others clashed openly with the police. In Chinatown, a group began chanting “You’re not English any more” at officers.
Soon afterwards, a group of about 15 men was detained outside the Duke of York pub opposite Victoria station, close to the route of the pro-Palestinian march. Further down the Vauxhall Bridge Road, police on horseback stopped others leaving the White Swan as pro-Palestinian supporters filed past.
Another much larger group, numbering about 100, was also detained, this time near Westminster Bridge.
A more significant threat was detected shortly afterwards. At about 2:30pm, officers arrested 82 people in Tachbrook Street, Pimlico, to prevent them attacking their target in the parallel street: the hundreds of thousands calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
As the pockets of “patriots” attempted in vain to reach the latest pro-Palestinian march, it was quickly evident that London was witnessing one of Britain’s biggest days of mass protest.
A vast crowd – 150 times the size of the gathering several hours earlier near the Cenotaph – was making its way south from Hyde Park towards the Thames, thousands of red and green Palestinian flags glowing in the sun.
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Perhaps it was the weather, but the atmosphere felt more ebullient than previous marches, with huge numbers of families and children.
Many were keen to point out they understood the sensitivities of Armistice Day. One family said they had just observed their own two-minute silence on the train as it was pulling into Paddington station.
“Our parents are from Pakistan and we have to remember that a million Indians died in the wars. We are also remembering everyone who has died in conflicts, including Gaza and Israel,” she said, requesting not to be named.
As the numbers joining the protest continued to swell, sporadic shouts of the controversial chant “From the river to the sea” could be heard, further alarming those who say its meaning is laced with genocidal intent.
Last month, the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Community Security Trust asked prosecutors to look into whether chanting the slogan was a criminal offence.
Reports also suggest that some protesters repeated the antisemitic chant “Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud”, which refers to a seventh-century massacre of Jews by a Muslim army. By nightfall, however, there was no news from Scotland Yard regarding any arrests among the 300,000 protesters.
Others on the march said they were feeling weary of having to defend their support for Palestine.
Justine, 25, said: “I’m sick of having to preface my participation [on the march], it diminishes the power of the statement – and it doesn’t make me anti-Jewish.”
Her friend Alice, 24, added: “It’s really manipulative how that accusation is being used. It’s a valid right to campaign for peace.”
Close behind was artist Faith Kendrick, who had travelled 250 miles from Lancaster to support calls for a ceasefire.
The 67-year-old said she felt lucky to be there. On Wednesday, she was rushed to A&E after suffering heart palpitations that she believes were induced by the news from Gaza. “It’s the anxiety: I can’t sleep, it’s so agonising to watch.”
Mira Hussein, attending her first march, was on one of the 17 fully booked coaches to have travelled from High Wycombe to attend the protest, and could not believe the “energy” of the crowd around her.
“It feels like everyone has come down from our town to make their voice heard,” she said. “My only hope is that we will be heard.”