Controversy has grown in the last couple of years over the celebration of Al Quds (Jerusalem) Day in London. Al Quds Day was started by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, and is promoted by some groups supported by the Islamic regime in Iran, which most of us have some good reason to protest against.
Police hold back marchers at Piccadilly Circus
But it is also supported by a number of groups that clearly are not supporters of the Iranian regime (though like most people they would be opposed to a US attack on Iran) who see the day and the march as supporting the Palestinians and the Lebanese in their fight against Israeli occupation and aggression.
Not all of the groups against the march were Iranian
As a photographer and a journalist I try to approach things without closely identifying with either side, keeping a certain distance and although I always have a point of view, I went to photograph both sides of the argument.
So you can see my pictures of the march, and also of the demonstration against the march as usual on My London Diary. Perhaps this kind of unpleasantness could be avoided in future if groups that support Palestine but have no connection to Iran were to organise an alternative Al Quds Day march.