Met police chief condemned for claiming pro-Palestine protests intended to go past synagogues

Met police chief condemned for claiming pro-Palestine protests intended to go past synagogues Submitted by MEE staff on Tue, 05/05/2026 - 11:19 Coalition of campaign groups call on Mark Rowley to retract comments claiming that organisers repeatedly intended to include synagogues on their planned demonstration routes in London Pro-Palestinian supporters hold placards and wave flags in central London on 11 October 2025 (AFP/Henry Nicholls) Off A coalition of campaign groups have demanded that Mark Rowley, head of London's Metropolitan Police, retract a claim that pro- Palestine protest organisers repeatedly intended to include synagogues on their planned demonstration routes in London. The groups included the Palestine Solidarity Campaign , Friends of Al-Aqsa , the Stop the War Coalition , and the Palestinian Forum of Britain . They were responding to recent comments in The Times, in which Rowley stated: “Their initial suggestion for their route, their march, has involved walking by a synagogue.