ANTI-WAR and pro-Palestinian groups are defying Metropolitan Police calls to postpone a demonstration demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that they have planned for Armistice Day.

Thousands of protesters are expected to descend onto central London once again this weekend as Israel’s bombardment of the Palestinian territory continues.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak heaped further pressure on Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley yesterday to ban Friday’s protest, claiming that it would be “provocative and disrespectful.”

The Met urged the march organisers to “urgently reconsider” their plans, but it has not yet formally requested the power to ban the event under section 13 of the Public Order Act 1986.

The Act would only apply if there was a threat of “serious public disorder” that could not be controlled by other measures.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said operational decisions on whether to prohibit the march were for the Metropolitan Police to take, but he added that the government would “carefully consider” any application for a ban.

Protest organisers, which include the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Stop the War Coalition and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, have said that the march will begin after the Armistice Day two-minute silence has been observed and it will not pass near the Cenotaph.

The planned route runs from Hyde Park, about a mile from the Cenotaph, to the US embassy in Vauxhall, south of the Thames.

The organisers said that they were “deeply concerned” by the Met statement, adding that the force could not provide any evidence showing why the risk of breakaway groups engaging in criminal activity would be any greater than normal.

They said: “We recognise the political pressure being placed on the police by the government and right-wing political groups.

“However, we emphasise that they had and have a responsibility to withstand that pressure and act to uphold democratic freedoms.”

In a separate statement, the Stop the War Coalition said: “The police have given no plausible reason for a cancellation.

“We condemn the outrageous comments by [Home Secretary] Suella Braverman saying that the pro-Palestine protests are ‘hate marches.’ We will be marching for a ceasefire.

“Braverman and others opposing our peace march on Armistice Day are supporters of Israel’s brutal onslaught on the people of Gaza and we will not listen to lectures by them.”

The statement said that the protest was now also about “the democratic right to protest and a government that wants to curb that right.”

It continued: “The unimaginable suffering of the people of Gaza demands we raise our voices in protest.

“We will not stop marching until Israel stops bombing and our government stops supporting them.”

Campaigners are using the hashtag #WeWillMarch on social media as part of the resistance.

Messages of support from trade union leaders Mick Lynch of RMT, Daniel Kebede of the National Education Union and the Fire Brigades Union’s Matt Wrack are among those shared.

Amnesty International UK chief executive Sacha Deshmund said that police “must not bow to political pressure” and reminded the force that it has a “duty to facilitate peaceful demonstrations.”

He said: “At any time, any interference with freedom of expression must be strictly necessary, proportionate and in full accordance with the law.

“This includes not making statements that create a chilling effect by dissuading people from exercising their fundamental right to peaceful protest.”

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the police had to balance the right to protest with concerns about public safety.

He made it clear that he would not use the term “hate marchers,” but insisted that this did not signal “confusion” within the government.

About 200 parents and children protested against the King’s Speech yesterday, demanding that the government end British arms sales to Israel.

Children laid teddy bears outside MPs’ offices in Portcullis House and held up 130 items of baby clothing to mark the 130 children in incubators in Gaza as hospitals face fuel shortages.

Kate Joseph of Parents for Palestine said: “How many more children have to be killed before our political leaders back a ceasefire?” 

The government’s Cobra emergency committee was expected to meet yesterday to consider “issues around community cohesion” amid the Gaza crisis.

Protesters will assemble at Hyde Park at 12pm. Other actions are planned across the country.