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Youth Demand activists “swarmed” roads across central London on Saturday, drawing attention to the crisis in Gaza and the escalating climate emergency.
Approximately 65 demonstrators initially gathered at Brunswick Square Gardens around 11am before dividing into two groups and blocking traffic on Euston Road near King’s Cross at around 12:15pm.
Protesters displayed signs reading “Youth Demand an End to Genocide” and “Stop Arming Israel,” and lit green flares as they temporarily obstructed the road for about 10 minutes.
Police arrived shortly after and issued a formal warning under Section 7 of the Public Order Act.
The demonstrations continued just after 1:30pm, as Youth Demand members split again to block more routes in the city. One group halted traffic at the Old Street Junction until roughly 1:55pm, while another group of 20 activists protested at Baker Street for around 30 minutes.
Youth Demand — a youth-led offshoot of Just Stop Oil — is calling on the UK government to impose a complete arms and trade embargo on Israel and to immediately cease new oil and gas developments.
Although the group operates without formal leadership, it is guided by a "strategy team." It accuses politicians of betraying the younger generation and warns of an “unimaginable outbreak of collective power, creativity, love, and defiance.”
The group has been in the spotlight recently after six of its female members were arrested at a Quaker meeting house in central London — reportedly the first such arrests at a Quaker site in living memory. The arrests took place at Westminster Meeting House, where the women were detained by Metropolitan Police on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.
Quakers in Britain denounced the incident as an “aggressive violation.”
More than 30 police officers were reportedly involved in the arrests, which authorities said were connected to concerns about plans to “shut down” London this month through disruptive protest tactics.
