Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters once again took to the streets of London on Saturday as some showed support for Hamas terrorists and others for the Islamist Houthis group in their attacks on global shipping in the Red Sea.
The organisers of the march, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, claimed that “hundreds of thousands” of activists demonstrated against Israel on Saturday, having predicted that over 200,000 would take to the streets. No official confirmation on the number of protesters has been published by the police at the time of this reporting.
The protest against Israel, which has become a frequent occurrence in London since the October 7th Hamas terror attacks that killed over 1,000 people in Israel, drew common cause with the Shiite jihadist Houthis in Yemen, who have faced military strikes from the UK and the U.S. in response to their repeated attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea.
According to The Times of London, placards at the demo read: “Free Palestine, hands off Yemen”, with another saying: “The West cares more about shipping lanes than living breathing human beings in Gaza.”
The paper went on to report that genocidal chants, including: “There is only one solution, intifada revolution” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” were also heard during the protest.
One protester was filmed expressing his opinion that Hamas terrorists represented the “resistance” to the alleged “oppression” of Israel, arguing that the Islamist group that has controlled the Gaza Strip with an iron fist for nearly two decades was “standing for the people of Palestine” and is involved in “fighting for the rights more than anything else”.
Several high-profile political figures joined the march on Saturday, including former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and the president of the Irish Republican Army (IRA)-tied Sinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald, who said per The Guardian: “When I say this, standing in London, in common cause with you, [having] walked our own journey out of conflict, building peace for 25 years, this can happen. This must happen and we will ensure that it does.”
The head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom, Husam Zomlot claimed Palestine is a “nation of freedom fighters”. Zomlot went on to express thanks to South Africa for launching a genocide case against Israel at the United Nations, according to the left-wing paper, while condemning Britain for acting in “complicity” with Israel.
The Metropolitan Police made several arrests, including three people under suspicion of violating the Terrorism Act for allegedly sharing leaflets appearing to justify acts of terrorism against Israel, saying: “We communists join together with all pro-gressive humanity in congratulating the Palestinian people and their chosen leader- ship on the audacious, daring and effective military action they are now taking against the last settler-colonial apartheid state, that monstruos proxy for Anglo-American imperialism, usurper of the Palestinian lands, rights and nationhood, zionist Israel.”
The Met said that it would deploy around 1,700 police officers during the march. According to an independent government report, anti-Israel protests have cost the British taxpayer over £20 million since October. The author of the report, Lord Walney, argued that organisers should bear some of the costs if the insist on holding frequent large-scale demonstrations in major cities.
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