London’s Metropolitan Police have arrested more than 80 far-right demonstrators who tried to boycott the march in favor of Palestine and against the Gaza bombings that took place this Saturday in the British capital. Along the route, from Marble Arch Square to the American Embassy in the Vauxhall district on the south side of the Thames, members of the fascist group English Defense League (EDL) have attempted to ambush the protesters.
A group of ultras gathered outside the door of the Duke of York pub near Victoria station shouted “Israel” and were visibly under the influence of alcohol. In front of them, two agents on the backs of two huge horses remained motionless, preventing the provocateurs from approaching the demonstrators who were marching through the area with Palestinian flags.
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More than two thousand police officers constantly intervened to prevent clashes. Tommy Robinson, the co-founder and former leader of the EDL, was seen among the protesters attempting to approach the cenotaph on Whitehall Avenue. This monument to those who died in the war was given special protection by the security forces, who prevented the provocateurs who were in the area from approaching it.
At least 300,000 people took part in the fourth pro-Palestinian protest since Hamas’s Oct. 7 killing of more than 1,400 Israelis and the Netanyahu government’s response to Gaza. It was the largest demonstration yet and coincided with Armistice Day, when Britain celebrates the end of hostilities in the First World War. Given the national symbolism of the celebration, the Sunak government tried later in the week to force Scotland Yard to ban the demonstration. Tensions between the Home Office, led by Suella Braverman, and the leadership of the Metropolitan Police have escalated tensions in recent days, inciting far-right groups who chanted in the streets this Saturday: “England until I die.” ” — to try to break up a protest that was largely peaceful.
A man is arrested for trying to break up the demonstration in support of Palestine that took place in London this Saturday. DYLAN MARTINEZ (Portal)
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Thousands of banners proclaimed “Free Palestine and Stop the Bombing.” Some of the organizers, loudspeakers in hand, shouted the slogan that Braverman had unsuccessfully tried to stop these weeks – “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – and which served as an argument in defense of this pro-Palestinian stance in the protests were in fact an incitement to hatred and support for Islamist terrorism, said the minister.
Celia Orbach, daughter of an East German Jew who fled to London and left her family – all victims of Auschwitz – behind, contrasted with the rest of the banners: “To be a Jew means to always be on the side of the oppressed, never on the side “the oppressor,” his sign said. “What happened on October 7th was terrible. Frightening. But I remember that my father was never happy with the idea of building a Jewish state by expelling other peoples. And I resist the belief that history began on October 7th,” explains Celia.
Braverman’s decision to publish a column in The Times newspaper, against Downing Street’s orders, in which he accused Scotland Yard of applying double standards and favoring pro-Palestinian protests (compared to other protests, such as those who opposed the lockdown in the past). ) has angered his own Conservative colleagues, the Labor opposition and Sunak himself, who is considering whether to forego the minister in the government shake-up planned for the coming days.
More than 20,000 people are calling for a ceasefire in Brussels
EFE
According to police, around 21,000 people took part in the so-called European March for Palestine in Brussels this Saturday, which called on the European Union and its member states to demand an immediate ceasefire in the conflict. The march, convened by around 40 civil society associations, unions and NGOs, sought to highlight “the importance of respecting international law”; condemn “European inaction in the face of ongoing violations of international law in Palestine”; and “urgently” calling for a ceasefire, a statement said. Among other groups, the Palestinian Community of Belgium and Luxembourg, the Belgian Committee in Support of the Sahrawi People and members of the Union of Jewish Progressives of Belgium supported the protest. The march began at 2:30 p.m. at the North Station in Brussels and continued for two hours without any confrontations through the center of the capital to Midi station in the south of the city.
Thousands of people also took to the streets in Paris this Saturday, called by left-wing and left-wing extremist parties and associations to demand an immediate ceasefire and “an end to the massacre” in Gaza and the West Bank. Rallies in support of Palestine were effectively banned in France in the early days of the conflict following a directive from Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who claimed there was a risk of disrupting public order.
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