Bend It Like Beckham star Juliet Stevenson has been pictured surrounded by anti-Israel placards wearing a keffiyeh around her neck during a pro-Palestine protest in London’s Trafalgar Square.
The image of the actress, 68, was posted to social platform X today after Saturday’s protest that saw 77 demonstrators arrested.
In the picture, Stevenson can be seen among a crowd of protestors wearing a keffiyeh – a traditional scarf worn in the Middle East that has become synonymous with the Palestinian struggle.
Meanwhile, demonstrators surrounding her can be seen holding placards with anti-Semitic slogans reading: ‘evil monster on the rampage’, and Palestinian flags.
The seasoned British actress known for her roles in 2002 sports-comedy ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ and 1990s romance ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’ has been outspoken about her support for Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
Back in 2023, she told Turkish news agency AA: ‘I have witnessed many human atrocities all over the world, but I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed anything on the scale of what we’re seeing now. How many more children have to die before I am allowed to be angry, and how many more children have to die before I call for a cease-fire without being smeared as some racist?’
‘I think that the silencing of the protest is insidious and dangerous because it’s going to lead to so many more deaths, and Israel will not lead to any solutions in this terrifying conflict in Gaza,’ she said.
It comes after officers arrested 77 people on Saturday as thousands of pro-Palestine protestors took to the streets of London – as some carried signs praising Hamas and others displaying swatsikas.
The Metropolitan Police said this was the highest number of arrests the force has seen and that it was in response to the ‘most significant escalation in criminality’.
Despite the demonstrations initially starting in Whitehall, demonstrators went on to force their way through police lines in a ‘coordinated effort to cause disruption’, police said.
Protesters had initially planned to rally around the Broadcasting House on Portland Place to protest alleged bias in the BBC’s coverage of the conflict in Gaza.
Demonstrators, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the party’s former shadow chancellor John McDonnnell, marched towards Trafalgar Square from Whitehall after speeches were made at the rally.
Protesters met a line of police officers and eventually broke through, with those who made it to the square later finding themselves being held in one corner.
Commander Adam Slonecki, who led the policing operation, said: ‘We could not have been clearer about the conditions in place. Protesters were to remain in Whitehall with no march towards the BBC.
‘Our relationship with protest organisers has to be based on trust and good faith. If they say they will act responsibly and lawfully we need to be able to know those are genuine assurances.
‘That is why it was so deeply disappointing to see a deliberate effort, involving organisers of the demonstration, to breach the conditions and attempt to march out of Whitehall.
‘Officers responded bravely and decisively, ensuring they got no further than Trafalgar Square and certainly nowhere near their target.
‘I am quite confident this was a coordinated breach with the intention being to reach the BBC at Portland Place in defiance of the conditions. There is video footage of one of the organisers clearly inciting the crowd to join a march and one of the organisations involved has released a statement this evening confirming as much.
‘At the same time as the group was attempting to force its way past police lines, camera crews were seen arriving in Portland Place. It is unlikely that the timing was simply a coincidence.
‘We are in possession of footage from officers’ body worn cameras, from CCTV and from social media. We know who was involved in leading the movement of so many people through police lines. Investigations are now underway and we will make every effort to bring prosecutions against those we identify.’
Officers explained how initially the demonstration was peaceful despite several arrests of public order offences.
Around 3pm, a group of protests at the north end of WHitehall was joined by a larger crowd, which police say was made of around 1,000 people.
The group then breached a line of police officers and moved toward the north west corner of Square, where they were stopped by another line of officers and two police vans.
Officers arrested one of the protest organisers who had been leading the group.
Despite police warning them to leave the area, the group continued to try to leave the square through alternative routes and were eventually arrested.
According to the police, 65 of the arrests were for breach of conditions, five were public order offences, two for obstructing justice, and the rest were for support for a proscribed organisation, inciting racial hatred, common assault,assault on an emergency worker and sexual assault.’
Over five thousand joined the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) demonstration today despite Israeli war cabinet agreeing to a deal which will establish a ceasefire in the Gaza strip from Sunday.
The justice ministry said 737 prisoners and detainees will be freed as part of the first phase of the three part deal, hoped to pave the way for more enduring peace terms.
In return, Hamas has agreed to free 33 of the 94 hostages still in Gaza, having been taken into captivity during the group’s October 2023 incursion into southern Israel. It was not clear what condition the hostages are in, or how many are still alive.
The long-awaited ceasefire was approved by Israel’s cabinet on Friday after months of back and forth between Israeli and Hamas delegations, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
Under the terms of the deal, Israeli forces are to withdraw from Gaza’s densely-populated areas and allow displaced Palestinians to return home.
The war has displaced around nine tenths of Gaza’s 2.3mn pre-war population, according to UN estimates.
Hamas’ role in the future of Gaza remains unclear, however. Analysts believe that the de facto authority in Gaza is likely to continue to build back its influence.