This is the account of a 17 year old boy, who witnessed the incident.


"On the 3rd of January 2009, after the heart-warming and triumphant gathering of tens of thousands who support the cause of the Palestinian people in Trafalgar Square, London, most protestors then made their way to the Israeli Embassy to make their voices heard as they had done for the last 6 days. Protestors of all races and creeds, mean, women and children chanted and held banners and signs condemning the Israeli government for there inhumane bombardment of Gaza.



I was there.



We walked singing choruses in English and Arabic waving our Palestinian flags and holding up our signs. Peacefully. When we arrived at Green Park, we were stopped. There was no reason for us to be stopped. I was at the front and asked one of the police officers why we had been halted, to which he replied that we would be permitted to proceed eventually. While we waited, the sheer number of police officers arriving was frightening. All of them were in riot gear and most had balaclavas underneath their helmets. There must have been 500-1000 officers in sight while we were waiting to be let through.



After approximately 20 minutes of uncertainty, we were informed that we could go through the Hyde Park underpass. With haste, and eagerness, we climbed over gates (most walked around) to get to the tunnel. We were split into two groups once in the underpass and the noise was deafening. The chants and choruses became louder and people were greeting each-other. The police who had formed five lines in front of us, two lines directly in front of us in black riot gear and three lines in riot gear and high-visibility coats behind them, made us stop on numerous occasion for minutes each time. Whenever this happened, we would chant and boo. Nothing else.



When we were in sight of the light at the end of the tunnel, we were once again stopped. This time for many minutes, which the crowd responded with demands of why, but still, no violence or pushing. One of the officers then shouted a command. The first two rows of riot police then attacked anyone in sight of them with their riot batons, often surrounding individuals and beating them to the crowd. The crowd tried to run backwards in fear but as the rows behind were oblivious to what was going on, people fell on each other and many people were crushed by the bodies of their fellow protesters falling on them. The police continued to brutally, mercilessly and ruthlessly attack people with such viciousness that many people around me were leaking blood from their head. I saw several people unconscious and many people were clutching parts of their bodies in pain, likely to be a fracture from the sheer force of the attacks by the Metropolitan Police. I stress that there were women, children and babies in prams in this crowd. Furthermore, everyone was innocent and part of a very peaceful protest. There are many things that cannot be explained using the English language and the sheer violence I saw from the POLICE and the fear I felt cannot be expressed in language. It was horrific, I was sure that I would be hit on the head by officers and fall unconscious. If that would have happened, it would not have been the end of it as officers often continued to beat people who were on the ground with their batons of kicking them.



When the unprovoked attack was finally over, the injured were helped onto their feet and in anger many people threw bits of wood at the ranks of evil police in front of them. I was furious. I was possessed by a rage which I have rarely felt in my life as I saw a woman, who looked over 60 years old, being helped up by other victims. The aftermath of the attack left debris of shoes, scarves, signs, blood and bags in between the wide no-mans-land which separated us, the innocent protesters and the riot police, who had attacked us viciously in an unprovoked attack.



After maybe 10 minutes of panic and fear of another charge, the police started to walk backwards again, meaning that we could continue walking forwards and into the open air. We proceeded with caution, this time I was in the first few rows, instead of being right at the front. We walked for maybe to minutes when we stopped yet again and without warning, the police in front of us repeated the horrors of which took place but fifteen minutes before. The same unexplainable attack on innocent people occurred. The police force was as merciless and ruthless with their attacks as before. Hitting any life form in sight with their riot batons, this time, there was no crushing and piles of innocent people lying on top of each other as the crowd were cautious after the first attack. This attack was just as vicious and lasted just as long as the attack minutes prior to this one. As with this attack, men, women and children were beaten senseless and the police were indiscriminate with whom they hit as all were innocents.



After the second attack, the police quickly retreated and left a huge gap between protesters and attackers and we eventually plucked up the courage to walk forward, into the open air. We saw people up on the railings with cameras and signs clapping and cheering as we exited the tunnel. The ordeal was over and chants of "Allah hu Akhbar" were roared as I screamed "TAKBIR" until my vocal cords felt like they were on fire. We were out in the open and were free from the totalitarian police force who had taken us into an underpass where there were no other witnesses and no live news feed or reporters. We had been lured into an ambush that we would never forget. We were treated as Palestinians were everyday in Israel by the, so called civilised police force of London and this made me feel more in touch with my Palestinian akhi's as I had ever felt.



I have a message to the Metropolitan Police who were involved in this despicable act upon innocent peaceful protesters: you may beat us mortals into submission, but your arms are too short to box with God."



By Awate Suleiman

This is another witness account from a different perspective :


PEACE + LOVE