Protests at the Israeli embassy in London are somewhat frustrating both for protesters and also for photographers. You can’t actually protest at the embassy as it is a short distance down a private road, Palace Green, where protests and photography are both banned. Instead protests take place on the busy High St Kensington, with police attempting to keep the protesters inside a relatively narrow pen surrounded by barriers on the opposite side of the road to the gated entrance to Palace Green.
The Israeli embassy is only a short distance away, so the protests can obviously be heard there, but it isn’t a good location for a protest of any size. Police generally keep traffic running in both directions along the A315, the major route to the west from Hyde Park Corner and the penned area is long and narrow, getting very crowded. A narrow area of pavement in front of the shops behind the pen which police try to keep clear also gets very congested.
Glyn Secker of Jews for Justice for Palestinians
Police also harass photographers who try to work outside the pen along the front of the protest along the road. It is almost the only place from which to take pictures and if you stop police who are standing in a line along it are likely tell you to move on, though we were suffered in a very narrow space close to the platform from which the speeches were being made. Though the small crowd of photographers and videographers there meant it was often difficult to get a clear view.
Traffic passes very close to the barriers
Inside the pen, the crowd made it hard to work and difficult to move around.
More pictures at End the killing in Palestine.
I didn’t stay long, as I had another event I wanted to photograph, but was rather pleased to leave, having had enough arguments with police already. The location does present them with a difficult job, but it would be possible to make it a little more friendly and safe for press and public with a few more traffic cones and another foot or so of space.
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My London Diary : Buildings of London : River Lea/Lee Valley : London’s Industrial Heritage
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