At 11.31am on Saturday, the first rendition was heard, drowning out the double-decker buses circling Marble Arch. Several dozen protesters had begun urgently chanting the controversial slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. Three metres away, a pair of officers from the Metropolitan police’s territorial support group looked on impassively.
The crowd grew quickly; hundreds started singing the slogan. Two blond-haired children holding Palestinian flags joined in, their parents beaming proudly.
