One of these preparatory sessions in a Quaker meeting house was raided by the Metropolitan Police on Thursday, with officers arresting six people on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.
Youth Demand said the publicity around the raid in Westminster had raised awareness about the group and prompted more than 200 people to join since, according to The Guardian.
The group has reportedly attracted support from several young former JSO activists following the announcement that JSO would disband at the end of April because its demand that there should be no new oil and gas licences is now UK Government policy.
According to The Telegraph, one organiser from Youth Demand told a meeting that the protest group intended to “follow in the footsteps” of previous “civil resistance” groups like JSO.
Discussing plans for the disruption, one speaker told activists: “In April, we are going to be taking to the streets en masse.
“The strategy that we are adopting at the moment focusses on swarms. This means small groups splitting up and going across the city, stepping onto the road for a short period of time and leaving before arrest, then emerging again at another location and leaving before arrest and on, and on, and on.
“This is something you can do however many times you want in a day. It’s maximum disruption and minimum risk.”
Describing what a typical day during the month of civil disobedience might look like, the organiser added: “[We’ll] split into groups of 15 or so, heading out to pre-chosen locations across central London.
“When we get to a location, we get on the road – [for] 10, 15, 20 minutes – there’ll be flares, flags, banners, keffiyehs (traditional Palestinian scarf), chants, drums, music.
“Then we disperse when police arrive, we get onto the Tube to our next location.
“The perk of being a city of transport is it’s like a rabbit warren: you can get anywhere in London, so we’re gonna be popping up and disappearing in the same breath. We can repeat this several times during the day.”
Another organiser encouraged activists to “just think of the economic impact of London being shut down for a month, combined with the massive costs of policing us”, adding: “By disrupting daily life, we’re disrupting the patterns that enable people to remain passive.
“The mass media attention that these actions gains, brings these topics into headlines, and it increases the prominence of our demands in the wider public discourse.”
It comes after three protestors from Youth Demand were found guilty of public order offences last June after a pro-Palestine demonstration outside Sir Keir Starmer’s family home.
The protestors placed rows of children’s shoes outside the London house and a banner that read "Starmer stop the killing", surrounded with red handprints.
Lady Starmer, Sir Keir’s wife, was left “intimidated and scared” and “couldn’t return to her property” after she came home from shopping with her children, the court heard.
On the arrest of six individuals following a raid on a Youth Demand meeting, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “Youth Demand have stated an intention to ‘shut down’ London over the month of April using tactics including ‘swarming’ and road blocks.
“While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality.
“On Thursday, officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting where those in attendance were plotting their April action.
“Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.”
A spokesperson for Youth Demand said: “The MET has been clamping down on the peaceful Palestine demonstrations in London because of a supposed threat to nearby synagogues.
"But when they then go and violently break into a Quaker house, we have to ask: do they really care about protecting religious communities? Or was it always about repressing peaceful protest?
"Youth Demand supporters will continue to take necessary and proportionate action to stop the UK's government criminal complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza.”
