Black Lives Matter and feminist activists joined forces with pro-Palestinian protesters in a march in London that saw demonstrators clash with police and shut down Westminster Bridge in a “die-in”.
Various leftist groups, including the UK branch of the Marxist Black Lives Matter movement and the radical feminist group Sisters Uncut, banded together with anti-Israel activists from the London for a Free Palestine and the Palestinian Youth Movement to form what they dubbed the “Free Palestine Coalition (FPC)” in a protest in central London on Saturday.
According to the Metropolitan Police, the organisers of the protest refused to share their planned route, while only stating according to The Telegraph that they would be “blockading a well-known location in London”.
This landmark appears to have been Westminster Bridge, where activists were filmed lying down on the pavement, blocking off traffic on the major bridge in the centre of the British capital.
The activists seemed to deploy the common leftist tactic of a “die-in” in which activists lay motionless on the ground to stymie efforts from police to clear the road and, in this case, likely symbolise those who have died in the war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
In other footage posted on social media, protesters clashed with police while others shouted “shame on you” to the police officers who were attempting to clear the road.
Ahead of the demonstration, the FPC said that they chose the date of the protest to precede the return of Parliament to “send a strong signal to the UK Government that Palestine is a political priority and that there can be no business as usual.
The official X account for the British branch of Black Lives Matter said that the protest would be to demand that Israel to commit to a “full ceasefire” against the Islamist terrorists in Gaza, for the United Kingdom to “stop arming” Israel, and for an end to what they termed “Israeli Occupation” of Palestinian territories.
The BLM group went on to give tips to their followers on how to conceal their identity from the police and “far-right surveillance”, telling protesters to wear: “face masks to protect your identity from police surveillance and keep each other safe. Clothes that aren’t particularly identifiable are also good.
The Met have claimed that all protesters have left the area after the police called for a dispersal under the Public Order Act. The police have not announced any arrests at the time of this reporting.
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