London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan has been slammed by members of the capital’s Jewish community over his refusal to ban Sunday’s anti-Israel al-Quds Day march and its traditional display of flags supporting the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
Raphi Bloom, chairman of North West Friends of Israel group, told Breitbart News that despite repeated lobbying of Mr. Khan and a petition supported by almost 20,000 signatures calling for the event to be cancelled, the city’s leader has remained steadfast in his refusal to intervene.
“Hezbollah is a proscribed terrorist organisation. It makes NO distinction between its armed and political wing, yet its supporters will be allowed to march through London’s streets unhindered,” Mr. Bloom said. “This is extremely disappointing and challenges the mayor’s commitment to rid the streets of London of extremism.
“For many years this march has been rife with anti-Semitism and the fulsome support of a terrorist organisation – Hezbollah. I am sure I do not need to remind anyone that Hezbollah is currently massacring Syrian civilians on behalf of President Assad and is funded by Iran – one of the major supporters of global terrorism in the world today.
“For all that, our correspondence on the matter with Mr. Khan receives only generic responses from his staff and nothing from Mr. Khan himself. He may not have the power to ban al-Quds outright but he can lobby and make direct representations to the Metropolitan Police on behalf of a concerned London Jewish community.”
As Breitbart Jerusalem reported, Al Quds Day was begun by the late Ayatollah Khomeini to call for Israel to be destroyed. Organisers claim it “unites for the freedom of the oppressed in Palestine and beyond” and it is co-run by the Islamic Human Rights Commissionis to coincide with the end of Ramadan.
Hezbollah is an illegal, anti-Semitic terrorist organisation and its flags are flown on the day to honour the terrorist group sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state. The group is designated as a terror organization in its entirety by the Arab League, Bahrain, Canada, France, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United States.
Mr. Bloom accepts that people can freely march against the State of Israel in a democracy. He also believes open support for a terror group should have no place in society.
“Ten days on from the horrific terrorist attack in London it seems unbelievable that a march supporting another extremist Islamic terrorist group can go ahead freely on the streets of London with no restrictions or action from the police,” he said in a recent letter to Mr. Khan.
“We urge you to act and stand by your commitment to take extremism off the streets of London – and to protect the Jewish community from the anti Semitism that this march encourages.”
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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