London: Met Police to Question The Crown Star Over Pro-Palestine Protest
London (Quds News Network)- The Crown actor Khalid Abdalla has said he has been summoned to attend a “formal interview” by the Metropolitan police over alleged public order breaches at a pro-Palestine rally in London in January.
On Monday, the star, who played Princess Diana’s lover Dodi Fayed in the hit Netflix drama The Crown, wrote on Instagram, “I received a letter from the Metropolitan Police summoning me to attend a formal interview’ about the Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest of Jan 18th.”
“It remains to be seen if this will result in charges,” he added.
Abdalla, who has also starred in films including United 93, The Kite Runner, and The Day of the Jackal, said, “The right to protest is under attack in this country and it requires us all to defend it.”
“While there is an alarming rise in attempts to censor voices that stand up for Palestine, even as it faces open calls for ethnic cleansing, it will not work.”
“The days of silence and intimidation are gone.”
“Aggressive Policing”
On January 18, the Met Police arrested more than 70 protesters, accusing the demonstrators of breaking through a police cordon in Trafalgar Square.
Organizers estimated that the protest drew 100,000 people.
Abdalla had addressed the rally. He told the crowd: “Tomorrow phase one of the ceasefire begins. It remains to be seen if the ceasefire will hold or if the bloodshed since it was announced augurs what it will become.”
“But still we will have cause to celebrate whatever its shape for the respite in this genocide, for the return of the hostages, for the release of prisoners.”
In a letter sent recently to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, more than 50 MPs and members of the House of Lords urged the government to order an investigation into the policing of the 18 January protest.
They said they were “deeply troubled” by obstacles put in place by the police ahead of the demonstration, and “aghast” at comments made by Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley.
Rowley told the pro-Israel Board of Deputies of British Jews the day after the January rally that the police had “used conditions on the protests more than we ever have done before”, and that his team imposed “sharper and stronger conditions” on the organizers of the demonstration.
They also called for anti-protest legislation passed by the previous government – and currently the subject of a legal challenge brought by the civil liberties campaign group Liberty – to be repealed.
Among the Signatories are Labour MPs Diane Abbott, Clive Lewis, and Ian Lavery; Green MPs Sian Berry and Carla Denyer; and independent MPs, among them Zarah Sultana, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, and Imran Hussain
The letter was echoed by another sent to Cooper by a group of trade unions who also demanded an inquiry into “repressive and heavy-handed policing”.
“As trade unionists we are only too aware how heavy-handed policing, followed by the construction of false media narratives, have often served as a pretext to undermine our democratic rights to demonstrate and take industrial action,” the letter said.
Both letters raised questions about the Met’s narrative of events after it accused protesters of breaking through the police cordon between Whitehall and Trafalgar Square.
Organizers have disputed this account, saying that protesters were invited by officers to “filter through” to Trafalgar Square. They have accused police of “heavy-handed and aggressive policing”.
Shame on the Met police, solidarity with the protesters.
Cops arrested chief steward Chris Nineham from @STWuk on the #freepalestine march in London. Solidarity pic.twitter.com/fAzkBsCyXZ
— Socialist Worker (@socialistworker) January 18, 2025
So far, 21 people have been charged over the protest, the police said. They include the rally’s chief steward Chris Nineham and Palestine Solidarity campaign director Ben Jamal.
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell have already been questioned by the police over the protest.
Letters have also been issued to Stop the War coalition officers Lindsey German, Alex Kenny and Andrew Murray, as well as Friends of Al-Aqsa chair Ismail Patel.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “As part of our ongoing investigation into alleged breaches of Public Order Act conditions on Saturday 18 January we have invited a further eight people to be interviewed under caution at a police station.
“While we are aware of names being attributed to those who have been invited for interview, we do not confirm the identity of anyone under investigation.”
The Palestine Coalition, which organized the rally, said: “This coordinated attack against the Palestine solidarity movement is endeavoring to halt public protest on the issue, through harassment of those involved in the movement, and through increasingly draconian restrictions on demonstrations.”
“We demand that the Metropolitan Police halt any prosecutions or proceedings against those involved in this entirely peaceful protest.”
“We further insist that the Metropolitan Police respects the right to protest and that it ceases to take instruction from those who are determined to back Israel’s genocidal actions, to maintain British state support for them, and to drive our movement off the streets.”
