Seven people were arrested this Saturday during the demonstration that took place in central London in support of the Palestinian cause, police said.
Public disorder was the reason the seven people were detained, after police warned that any citizen showing support for the Islamist group Hamas could be arrested.
The protest, which gathered in front of the BBC headquarters and passed through the center of the capital, saw participants waving Palestinian flags and banners of support, while others chanted slogans in favor of the Palestinian people.
London’s Metropolitan Police (Met) mobilized more than a thousand officers to ensure the demonstration went off without incident, at a time when the crisis in the Middle East is worsening.
The United Nations and human rights organizations have expressed concern about the impact of Israel’s crackdown in Gaza, where the number of deaths from airstrikes by that country’s army continues to rise.
The British government has backed Israel and called on police to use “the full force of the law” against expressions of support for Hamas or attempts to intimidate Britain’s Jewish community.
Today’s protest in London was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, the Stop the War Coalition, the Muslim Association of Britain, the Palestinian Forum in Britain and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
There were also public trade unions and far-left parties such as the Socialist Workers’ Party, football club fans and LGBT activists.
The aim was to “show solidarity with Palestine and demand that Israel end the occupation of Palestinian territories and the ‘apartheid regime’ over the Palestinian people.”
In the crowd were numerous green, white and red Palestinian flags and typical Arab ‘keffiyeh’ scarves, as well as posters demanding “Freedom for Palestine” and “End of the siege of Gaza”.
“Palestine Action left a message for the BBC overnight: spreading the occupation’s lies and forging approval for Israel’s war crimes means having Palestinian blood on your hands,” the group wrote on the social network X.
The protest itself started peacefully, with the participation of many families pushing children in strollers or on their shoulders.
Britain sent two ships and three helicopters to the eastern Mediterranean this week to support Israel with surveillance operations and “strengthen regional security.”
It is against the law to publicly express support for or be a member of Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group, in the UK, which can lead to prison sentences.
Tensions have increased in the British capital since Hamas attacks in Israel last Saturday, with police recording a “huge increase” in anti-Semitic acts in the city.
The British government said on Thursday that it had recorded 139 anti-Semitic incidents in four days, five times more than in the same period last year.
According to the London police, whose data is provided every two weeks and therefore also covers the week before the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement, 105 incidents and 75 anti-Semitic crimes were recorded in the British capital between September 30 and October 13. , compared to 14 incidents and 12 crimes in the same period in 2022.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor referred Friday to “provocative behavior,” “anti-Semitic language,” “harassment outside synagogues” and other more serious crimes.
London police have also deployed extra officers to patrol the streets and reassure the public, but at least three Jewish schools have been temporarily closed in recent days amid fears of attacks.
Last Monday, a protest at the Israeli embassy in London resulted in three arrests.
The Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel a week ago with thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen by land, sea and air.
In response, Israel bombed several Hamas infrastructure in the Gaza Strip from the air and imposed a total siege of the territory, cutting off water, fuel and electricity supplies.
The attacks have already caused thousands of deaths and injuries in both areas.
Source: DN
