London’s Metropolitan Police are urging University of London Coalition student organizers to relocate a planned October 7 march commemorating the third anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel, citing profound community distress while acknowledging authorities lack legal power to ban the demonstration outright.
As October 7, 2026 marks three years since the 1,195 people died during the attacks led by Hamas on Israel in 2023, law enforcement officials face mounting pressure over a polarizing student procession scheduled for that day.
The regional conflict triggered by the 2023 attacks has since resulted in tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza.
University of London Coalition Student Route and Anonymous Planning
The student group known as the University of London Coalition intends to march from King’s College in the Strand to University College London in Holborn starting at noon.
Promotional materials for the event describe the situation in Gaza using the word genocide
and call for an end to military actions, while organizers have posted online flyers asserting that the ongoing conflict represents only the most recent form of genocide inflicted on the Palestinian people
according to coverage from JNS.
Despite extensive efforts through formal and informal channels, Metropolitan Police officers have been unable to identify or make direct contact with the student leaders behind the march.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner James Harman addressed the difficulty during a media briefing at New Scotland Yard, noting that investigators could not locate anyone willing to step forward as an official organizer to discuss route planning or timing adjustments.
“We have attempted to find and contact the student organisers to ask them to very carefully consider the impact their event will have and to ask them to hold this event on a different day. But finding the organisers, frankly, has so far proved difficult. I urge them to reconsider and to make contact with us urgently.”
James Harman, Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Operations at the Met
Metropolitan Police Powers and Legal Thresholds for Protests
Raphi Leon, president of the Union of Jewish Students, condemned the scheduling as provocative and deliberate, stating that holding a protest on the anniversary of the massacre is deeply distressing for Jewish students and staff across the capital.
Brad Blitz of the Intra-Communal Professorial Group, representing academic staff, warned that the event risked normalizing support for Hamas.
The Metropolitan Police have deployed more than 600 officers across London for the upcoming week while monitoring half a dozen protests and events, noting that recent findings by the Community Security Trust show antisemitic incidents at UK universities remain substantially higher than before October 2023.
Under Section 13 of the Public Order Act, a march can only be banned if police anticipate serious public disorder that cannot be managed through conditions, and any such request requires formal approval from the home secretary.
DAC Harman stated that the high legal threshold required to trigger a ban had not been met, leaving the force with no choice but to police it.
Demanding Operational Schedule Across London This Week
The student march forms just one component of a demanding operational schedule for Scotland Yard, which anticipates roughly half a dozen distinct demonstrations and events across the capital within a single week.
Officials have formally written to four London universities attended by the organizers, urging institutional leadership to take all necessary precautions to protect Jewish students and staff from intimidation, harassment, or unsafe campus conditions.
The Met Police also anticipates potential counter-protests led by Stop the Hate.
Officers have also noted recent arrests connected to a reported planned terror attack against the Jewish community in Manchester alongside other global events.
- A commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street in Whitechapel, expected to draw 5,000 attendees on Sunday and featuring groups such as Cable Street Jews, Stop the Hate, Our Fight, and other activists.
- Political canvassing and voting operations surrounding the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on Thursday, featuring campaigning from figures including Party leader Zack Polanski and Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali, where police have already arrested individuals following altercations between campaigners and protesters.
- A Palestine Coalition march starting at noon at the Victoria Embankment and ending in Whitehall.
The cumulative financial burden of managing these large-scale events continues to escalate.
According to figures released by DAC Harman, the cost climbs to £90 million when accounting for the redirection of local neighborhood officers away from everyday frontline duties.
With the force having recorded more than 17,000 hate crime arrests since October 2023—averaging about 475 hate crime arrests per month—senior officers confirmed that a zero-tolerance policy will remain in effect throughout the week for any acts of criminality, antisemitism, anti-Muslim abuse, or expressions of support for proscribed groups such as Palestine Action.