Thousands of anti-Israel protesters took to the streets of London on Saturday, with some carrying the black Jihadist flag used by numerous Islamist terrorist organisations.
Following the murderous terror assault by Hamas on Israel last weekend, thousands poured out onto the streets of London and other British cities to condemn the retaliatory strikes from Israel and in some instances to glorify the murders of Jews and others by the Palestinian terror group.
Footage shared on social media by veteran protest watcher Andy Ngo showed the black Jihadist flag which features the Islamic Shahada creed being flown at the protest outside of the BBC headquarters, which was defaced with red paint during the demonstration by the activist group Palestine Action.
The flag has been used by Islamic terror groups seeking to reestablish an Islamic Caliphate. A man was also photographed by the Getty Images service carrying the flag at the rally.
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 14: People take part in a demonstration in support of Palestine on October 14, 2023 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
Protesters were heard chanting anti-Israel slogans, such as “Israel is a terror state” and genocidal creed: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The slogan has been used as a call to arms symbolising the conquering of the entire state of Israel — and its people — from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
The editor of Jewish News, Richard Ferrer, shared a photograph on social media appearing to show two of the protesters bearing patches with the image of paragliders. During the Hamas terror strikes last Saturday, terrorists were seen descending upon a music festival in Southern Israel with paragliders before executing an estimated 260 innocent civilians.
A similar image celebrating the Hamas paragliders was promoted by the Marxist Black Lives Matter chapter in Chicago earlier this week with the message “I stand with Palestine.” The group eventually removed the post and issued an apology, but maintained its support of Palestine.
In what has become typical for anti-Israel protests in London, the demonstration was joined by the far left, including supporters of the Marxist group Socialist Appeal, who were filmed chanting: “The UK is not innocent.”
The former leader of the left-wing Labour Party, septuagenarian socialist Jeremy Corbyn also attended the rally. Corbyn was suspended from sitting as a member of the party in Parliament in 2020 after facing criticism for seemingly downplaying a report into antisemitism within the party during his tenure as leader. Earlier this year, the Labour Party’s governing body voted to block Corbyn from running as a Labour candidate in the next general election.
Corbyn wrote on social media on Saturday: “We cannot stand by as Gaza is decimated. Today, we gathered in our thousands to mourn the loss of innocent lives, Israeli and Palestinian. We will keep marching until our political leaders wake up: ending the occupation is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace.”
Ahead of the protest, the Metropolitan Police force mobilised over 1,000 officers to manage the demonstration. The Met warned that those who openly support Hamas, a proscribed terror organisation in Britain, may face arrest, the BBC reported.
This week, junior government minister Lee Rowley MP warned: “There is a right to protest, but there is not a right… to glorify terrorism,”
“You cannot support proscribed organisations like Hamas within the United Kingdom, and if that’s the case then I would expect police to take action accordingly.”
Others, including author Douglas Murray, have argued that those who support Hamas should be deported from the UK. Speaking to a group of Jewish leaders in London earlier in the week, the Strange Death of Europe writer said: “If you stand in Britain with the Hamas flag, you should not be allowed to be free in Britain. You should have your citizenship withdrawn. You should have your passport withdrawn. You should be deported.”
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