TENS of thousands are expected to defy attempts by the Metropolitan Police to disrupt tomorrow’s rally for Palestine in London.

The march had originally been approved to begin at BBC Portland Place, with campaigners seeking to highlight biased coverage of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

But the Met moved to ban the route, even though protesters had marched through it twice before, claiming that it risks disrupting services at a nearby synagogue. 

Protest organisers disputed this, saying that there was no synagogue on the route and there had never been a threat to one in relation to the marches hitherto.

A letter organised by the Jewish bloc attracted more than 900 signatures by members of the Jewish community, calling on the Met to reverse the ban, implemented following pressure from pro-Israel groups.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who celebrated Israel’s actions in Gaza as “outstanding,” accused the Met of failing to protect Jews from the protests.

Police have imposed the Public Order Act to prevent protesters from assembling in the originally planned area. 

Despite attempts to clamp down on the protest, the rally— the 23rd national demonstration since October 7 2023 — will go ahead anyway, instead starting at Whitehall at midday.

It takes place on the eve of an agreed ceasefire in Gaza, which is set to pause Israel’s onslaught for 42 days.

The coalition of organisers — including Stop the War and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) — rejected a route imposed by police, saying that it was an affront that pro-Israel groups can attempt to decide where they can march. 

PSC director Ben Jamal said: “It is absolutely legitimate and necessary for us in the UK to be holding our government to account for it’s military, diplomatic and economic support of Israel, which continues to be investigated by the world courts for war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

“But this protest has been marred by political policing which is an attack on our fundamental democratic rights. 

“The Met has seemingly accepted and acted upon the arguments of pro-Israel groups that seek to delegitimise our protest as anti-semitic or a threat to Jewish people. 

“This is a gross distortion of the truth. There is not a single instance of our marches posing any threat to synagogues or Jewish individuals. Indeed, we count a large, self-organised Jewish bloc as some of our most indefatigable supporters. 

“The Met’s approach has been confrontational, heavy-handed and intransigent. 

“Their use of powers under the Public Order Act has been based on flimsy grounds and arbitrarily applied, which erodes the right of peaceful protest that is fundamental in a democracy.”

The Met Police confirmed that protesting at Whitehall was “acceptable”, but warned that officers will be deployed to avoid “serious disruption” at Portland Place.