For the first time, a formal counter-protest was organized for central London on Saturday, March 9th.
The counter-protest was held at the end of Victoria Street, at 2:30pm, and was attended by around 20 people, some holding Israeli flags and others holding placards.
Itai Galmudy, organizer of the counter-protest, told the Independent that they were there"to exercise our democratic right of making our voices heard." he added, "On top of that we are here because Jews are not afraid and we’ve had enough of those anti-Israeli hate marches that are full of inflammatory language towards Jews and Israelis. And we just want to say enough is enough."
"We as a community feel that those marches have ballooned into something much more sinister than what they pretend to be."
According to the announcement released ahead of the protest, the counter-protest is being held "as a response to five months of almost weekly pro-Palestinian marches, which have been promoted as peaceful but have made central London an intimidating no-go area for Jews and many others, patience has run out."
The organizers, who defined themselves as "a collective of concerned British residents and citizens of all faiths, standing united against rising hatred on the streets of London," explained, "We will be asserting our democratic right to counter protest. We will be promoting government policy; ‘Hamas are a terrorist group’; we will be reminding people that ‘Rape is not resistance.’"
"This protest aims to be peaceful and non-provocative, reclaiming London as a bastion of democracy, diversity, and multiculturalism. "London should not be ruled by fear, by mobs, by aggression, and by threats."
Prior to the protest, organizers engaged with the police and stressed the importance of maintaining peace during the event, drawing attention to the successful enforcement of the law during previous instances.
"We expect the Police to fully uphold that right on Saturday and that any interventions will be to ensure that our peaceful right of protest is not interfered with by hateful speech, intimidation, or violence," they concluded.