An estimated 100,000 anti-Israel protesters flooded onto the streets of London on Saturday, with some being filmed calling for an “Intifada” against the Jewish state.
The British capital was once again mobbed with pro-Palestine protesters, with numbers matching demonstrations held in London last week during which activists were filmed calling for “Jihad“.
On Saturday, protesters flying a flag saying “fight for revolution”, were filmed chanting: “From London to Gaza, we’ll have an Intifada”.
The term Intifada, which literally translates to “Stone Uprising”, refers to years of violent Palestinian riots against Israel starting in 1987 on the 20th anniversary of Israel’s war against Egypt and Jordan. A so-called “second Intifada” was launched in 2000 and lasted for around five years during which time over 1,000 Israelis and over 3,000 Palestinians were killed.
Outbursts of violence were recorded during the protest, including a conflict between pro-Palestinian activists and groups of British nationalist counter-protesters.
Iranian-heritage political commentator Mayhar Tousi claimed to have been attacked by a “few pro-Palestinians,” saying on social media that a police officer was injured during the clash and one man was arrested.
The Metropolitan Police also reported that an officer was hospitalised after being assaulted by a protester.
The second large-scale anti-Israel protest comes as London’s Metropolitan Police face increasing criticism over its decision to not arrest activists calling for a “Jihad” and for the “Muslim armies” of the world to attack Israel during a similar rally in London last weekend.
“The word jihad has a number of meanings but we know the public will most commonly associate it with terrorism,” the police force argued.
Ahead of the protest on Saturday, the leader of the command team responsible for policing the demonstration, Kyle Gordon said according to The Telegraph: “If somebody is calling for jihad specifically against Israel the officers will intervene, gather the information and report it back to us.
“We will be working with [counter-terror] colleagues who are in the command suite with me in relation to what the best course of action is.”
The massive protest on Saturday was organised by several left-wing and Islamic groups, including the Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB), which according to the Jewish Chronicle, was co-founded by Mohammad Sawalha, a former Hamas commander wanted as a fugitive by the Israeli government who has been living in the United Kingdom after being granted British citizenship in the early 2000s.