12-11-2023, 06:23 PM
While its good to see this war in Gaza being protested, its a great pity that the far right in the UK have become involved. The UK govt should be calling for an immedite ceasefire.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/1...-in-london
"Hundreds of thousands of people have marched in central London chanting “Stop bombing Gaza” and “Ceasefire now” in the largest Palestine solidarity demonstration held in the country so far.
Ahead of the event, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had called its timing “disrespectful”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/n...protesters
"Hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully through central London yesterday to protest against Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza, following a week of intense political debate over the policing of sensitive demonstrations.
The Metropolitan Police said around 300,000 people had converged on the capital from all parts of the country, while organisers of the pro-Palestinian event put the number closer to 800,000 and claimed it was one of the biggest marches in British history.
The attendance will add to political pressure on both the prime minister Rishi Sunak and the Labour leader Keir Starmer to back calls for a ceasefire in the conflict, which began after a Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on 7 October, murdering 1,200 Israelis and taking around 240 hostages.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Friday that Israel’s relentless retaliatory bombardment had killed 11,078 people in the territory, while 1.5 million had fled their homes.
The march took place amid heightened tension between the Met police and Suella Braverman, the home secretary, who last week accused the force of showing bias when it came to demonstrations and of favouring left-wing causes and what she called pro-Palestinian “mobs”.
On Saturday morning, far-right counter-protesters had clashed with police near the Cenotaph in Whitehall, ahead of an Armistice Day service. Scuffles broke out as police attempted to stop a crowd of far-right activists, Islamophobes and football supporters carrying St George’s flags marching along the Embankment towards Whitehall shortly after 10am.
The group, which had been chanting “England til I die” pushed through the police barrier, with some shouting “let’s have them” as officers hit out with batons. Further clashes took place in Chinatown with counter-protesters chanting: “You’re not English any more” towards officers. The Met said officers had “faced aggression from counter-protesters who are in the area in significant numbers”.
Tommy Robinson, founder and former leader of the far-right English Defence League, was seen among the crowds protesters.
There were further clashes into the evening, including a crowd of roughly 150 rightwing protesters in Parliament Square. According to the BBC, an offensive chant about Allah was chanted and a Palestinian flag was ripped up. By Saturday night, police said there had been 126 arrests and nine officers had been hurt during the clashes.
Met assistant commissioner Matt Twist said the violence from rightwing protesters towards the police “was extraordinary and deeply concerning”. He said the “intense debate about protest and policing” had contributed to an increase in tensions.
Rachel Solnick, a PhD student on the march, said: “I feel really appalled by how some of the framing around liberation for Palestine has been as if there’s an opposition, or some kind of binary between Jewish safety and Palestinian safety. I absolutely disagree with that framing.
“I think that loads of us who have Jewish ancestry feel really strongly that what is taking place in Palestine is ethnic cleansing and we don’t want it to happen in our names. It feels so important to gather here in numbers, as Jews and as members of the British public in general, to counter that narrative.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/1...-in-london
"Hundreds of thousands of people have marched in central London chanting “Stop bombing Gaza” and “Ceasefire now” in the largest Palestine solidarity demonstration held in the country so far.
Police estimate that about 300,000 demonstrators joined the march on Saturday, which fell on the same day as the annual Armistice Day commemorations marking the end of World War I and honouring those killed in military action.
Ahead of the event, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had called its timing “disrespectful”.
“These are huge numbers, and it’s unprecedented,” said Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan, reporting from the march.
“It’s a message to the British government as well, who tried to have this march banned by the police.”
The “National March for Palestine” was the latest in a series of rallies in the British capital to show support for the Palestinians since Israel launched an air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip following Palestinian group Hamas’s attacks on southern Israel on October 7."https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/n...protesters
"Hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully through central London yesterday to protest against Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza, following a week of intense political debate over the policing of sensitive demonstrations.
The Metropolitan Police said around 300,000 people had converged on the capital from all parts of the country, while organisers of the pro-Palestinian event put the number closer to 800,000 and claimed it was one of the biggest marches in British history.
The attendance will add to political pressure on both the prime minister Rishi Sunak and the Labour leader Keir Starmer to back calls for a ceasefire in the conflict, which began after a Hamas terrorist attack in Israel on 7 October, murdering 1,200 Israelis and taking around 240 hostages.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Friday that Israel’s relentless retaliatory bombardment had killed 11,078 people in the territory, while 1.5 million had fled their homes.
The march took place amid heightened tension between the Met police and Suella Braverman, the home secretary, who last week accused the force of showing bias when it came to demonstrations and of favouring left-wing causes and what she called pro-Palestinian “mobs”.
On Saturday morning, far-right counter-protesters had clashed with police near the Cenotaph in Whitehall, ahead of an Armistice Day service. Scuffles broke out as police attempted to stop a crowd of far-right activists, Islamophobes and football supporters carrying St George’s flags marching along the Embankment towards Whitehall shortly after 10am.
The group, which had been chanting “England til I die” pushed through the police barrier, with some shouting “let’s have them” as officers hit out with batons. Further clashes took place in Chinatown with counter-protesters chanting: “You’re not English any more” towards officers. The Met said officers had “faced aggression from counter-protesters who are in the area in significant numbers”.
Tommy Robinson, founder and former leader of the far-right English Defence League, was seen among the crowds protesters.
There were further clashes into the evening, including a crowd of roughly 150 rightwing protesters in Parliament Square. According to the BBC, an offensive chant about Allah was chanted and a Palestinian flag was ripped up. By Saturday night, police said there had been 126 arrests and nine officers had been hurt during the clashes.
Met assistant commissioner Matt Twist said the violence from rightwing protesters towards the police “was extraordinary and deeply concerning”. He said the “intense debate about protest and policing” had contributed to an increase in tensions.
Rachel Solnick, a PhD student on the march, said: “I feel really appalled by how some of the framing around liberation for Palestine has been as if there’s an opposition, or some kind of binary between Jewish safety and Palestinian safety. I absolutely disagree with that framing.
“I think that loads of us who have Jewish ancestry feel really strongly that what is taking place in Palestine is ethnic cleansing and we don’t want it to happen in our names. It feels so important to gather here in numbers, as Jews and as members of the British public in general, to counter that narrative.”
in order to be old & wise, you must first be young & stupid. (I'm still working on that.)
