Quakers in Britain React to Unprecedented Police Raid
Quakers in Britain are grappling with what they describe as an extraordinary violation of one of their sacred spaces, following a police raid on a meeting house in London. Officers forcibly entered the building and arrested several activists who had gathered to strategize for upcoming protests related to the Gaza conflict.
“No one has been arrested in a Quaker meeting house in living memory,” stated Paul Parker, the recording clerk for Quakers in Britain, in a press release issued after the incident. This statement underscores the gravity of the situation for the Quaker community.
On Thursday evening, an assembly of more than 20 uniformed police officers, some equipped with tasers, stormed the Westminster meeting house. They broke open the front door “without warning or ringing the bell,” the Quakers reported. The officers proceeded to search the premises and apprehended six women who were part of a gathering organized by Youth Demand, an independent activist group that had rented a room for their meeting.
The Metropolitan Police justified their actions by citing Youth Demand’s intention to “shut down” London with a series of protests planned for the following month. According to British media, the police acknowledged the right to protest but asserted that “we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality.”
This incident has raised significant concerns across England and coincides with a broader crackdown on protesters advocating for Gaza in the United States, particularly on college campuses. There, students have expressed strong opposition to Israel’s military actions in the ongoing conflict with Hamas.
