The planned Al‑Quds Day march in London on March 15 once again exposed a disturbing reality: Britain’s experiment with multiculturalism has created a public square where hostility toward the nation and its allies can flourish openly.
The event, organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), was eventually cancelled after Mark Rowley, Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, requested a ban which was approved by Shabana Mahmood.
Yet the very fact that such a march had been planned at all is an indictment of the political culture that has allowed extremist-adjacent activism to masquerade as legitimate protest.
For years the march has been associated with sectarian agitation and provocative symbolism on the streets of Britain’s capital. A nation that once prided itself on civic cohesion now appears paralysed when confronted with movements that openly import the conflicts of the Middle East into British life.
Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem. The Day was created by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after Iran’s 1979 revolution.
Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
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Government Warnings Ignored
Thousands of pro-Iran demonstrators ignored the government’s directives and went ahead with the cancelled hate rally.
Demonstrators congregated on the South Bank of the Thames for “prayers” and brandished placards declaring ‘boom boom Tel Aviv’.
Chants of ‘from the river to the sea’ and ‘Israel is a terror state’ could be heard as people held pictures of the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and his successor, Mojtada Khamenei.
According to the Met Police, three people have been arrested so far. One for showing support for a proscribed organisation, one for dangerous driving and a third for threatening and abusive behaviour.
Pascal Robinson-Foster – one half of the punk rap duo Bob Vylan – repeated his disgraceful Glastonbury chant of ‘death to the IDF’ following a ranting speech at the rally.
Bob Vylan’s performance in June last year sparked widespread backlash and led to the Robinson-Foster having his US visa revoked and gigs cancelled.
Around a hundred counter-protesters were seen on the opposite side of the Thames ahead of a demonstration organised by Stop The Hate.
“This isn’t the Islamic Republic, you can’t silence journalists!”
Writing in Spiked commentator Brendan O’Neill said the scenes he witnessed at the South Bank gathering were deeply disturbing.
According to Mr. O’Neill, many demonstrators appeared to be mourning Ali Khamenei, whom he referred to as “the butcher of Tehran,” after reports he had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on 28 February. Images of the Iranian leader, he said, were displayed prominently throughout the event. Children carried placards bearing his face, while a large banner featuring his image urged passers-by to stand with him on what it called “the right side of history.”
Mr. O’Neill argued that the adulation was deeply troubling given the Iranian regime’s role in violent conflicts across the Middle East. He said the atmosphere treated Khamenei as a heroic figure rather than a leader whose forces and allied militias have been accused of causing widespread suffering.
For him, however, the larger issue extended beyond the demonstration itself. He claimed the scenes reflected a deeper problem within Britain’s political culture. Multiculturalism, he argued, is often criticised merely for dividing communities, but its more dangerous effect, he said, is that it can foster hostility toward the nation’s own institutions and identity.
“Greater Potential for Conflict”
Shabana Mahmood said in a statement to those in the Commons, that there was a “greater potential for conflict” at marches for Al Quds Day in London as a result of the war in Iran and “heightened tensions between protesters and counter-protesters”.
“Al Quds Day is an event held on the last Friday of Ramadan. The day is marked worldwide by rallies and demonstrations in support of Palestine, including here in Britain.
“Plans for a procession this Sunday in London have been led by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, an organisation that has been closely associated with the Iranian regime.
“Of course, this year’s event interacts with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. It comes at a time when the Iranian regime is attacking British forces and bases, as well as those of our allies.
“It also comes just days after the arrest of four individuals as part of an investigation led by counter terror police. They were arrested under the National Security Act for allegedly spying on Jewish communities on behalf of the Iranian regime.
“This context creates clear challenges for the police – heightened attention, and therefore larger expected attendance, heightened tensions between protesters and counter-protesters, and therefore greater potential for conflict.”
She also told MPs that a ban on processions related to Al Quds Day will be in place until April 11.
The Troubling Organisation Behind the Demonstration
Concerns surrounding the IHRC are not speculative; they have been formally recorded in official government analysis.
In the 2023 independent review of the Prevent programme, reviewer William Shawcross described the organisation as “an Islamist group ideologically aligned with the Iranian regime, that has a history of extremist links and terrorist sympathies.”
Such a characterisation from a government-commissioned review is extraordinary. Yet despite this warning, the organisation has continued to operate within Britain’s civic sphere, organising demonstrations that bring ideological battles from Tehran and the wider Middle East into the heart of London.
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
When Extremism Walks London’s Streets
Previous Al-Quds marches have repeatedly been marked by the display of symbols linked to Hezbollah, a group banned under UK terrorism legislation.
Arrests for racial hatred and inflammatory chanting have also accompanied the demonstrations. For Britain’s Jewish community, the images of militant flags waving through central London have become a grim annual ritual.
When the streets of a Western capital echo with the imagery of groups tied to terrorism, the question is unavoidable: how did such scenes become tolerated in the first place?
Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.
Honouring a Terror Architect
The ideological sympathies surrounding the organisation have also surfaced in other disturbing ways.
Representatives connected to the IHR previously attended a vigil honouring Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who orchestrated military campaigns across the Middle East.
Soleimani’s operations fuelled wars in Syria and elsewhere that resulted in enormous civilian suffering. To see a figure associated with such devastation commemorated in London is a stark demonstration of how radically different moral frameworks are now competing within Britain’s public life.
Proverbs 28:4 They that forsake the law praise the wicked.
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The Failure of the Multicultural Dream
Britain’s leaders have spent decades promoting multiculturalism as a social ideal. The result has been a fractured national identity where imported grievances and ideological loyalties increasingly take precedence over shared civic values.
The annual controversy surrounding the Al-Quds march is not an isolated incident but a symptom of that deeper failure. Instead of fostering harmony, the policy has too often allowed hostile political movements to take root within British society.
When demonstrations tied to foreign conflicts regularly inflame tensions between communities in London, the conclusion becomes difficult to avoid: a nation that refuses to defend its cultural foundations will inevitably struggle to preserve its unity.
Mark 3:25 A house divided against itself cannot stand.
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Read and pray
READ: Gen 1:27; Gen 1:27; Exod 18:21; Lev 19:35-37; Isa 58:1; 2 Chron 7:14; Psalm 33:12; Matth 5:9; John 8:32; Rom 13:1–4; 2 Tim 1:7; Eph 4:15;Col 4:6; James 1:5
PRAY: Pray that Britain’s leaders will seek God’s wisdom and courage to uphold justice, truth, and the protection of all communities.
Pray for peace between communities in Britain, that hatred and division will be replaced with respect, truth, and genuine reconciliation.
Pray that the nation will turn back to God’s ways and rediscover the biblical values that once shaped its public life.
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