Rishi Sunak has said he will hold the Met Police chief “accountable” over a pro-Palestinian march set to take place this Saturday, on Armistice Day.
The prime minister has criticised the timing of the demonstration in London as “provocative and disrespectful”.
Organisers insist their march will not go near commemorations and accuse the government of manufacturing a row.
Protests have been held in London, and other cities globally, each Saturday since the Israel-Gaza war began.
Ben Jamal, of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign which is behind the march, said he believed the government was manufacturing a row and using the Armistice Day angle to try to “delegitimise” them.
“There’s something particularly askew with an argument that says a protest calling for a ceasefire is somehow inappropriate on Armistice Day,” he told the BBC.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has accused the police of being more lax on left-wing protests than those organised by nationalists or right-wing activists.
The home secretary has voiced her opposition to pro-Palestinian protests in the past, calling them “hate marches” in an interview with Sky News.
Protest organiser Chris Nineham, from the Stop the War Coalition, said: “We do everything we can as stewards to make sure there is nothing antisemitic or calling for violence in our demonstrations. For us, this isn’t about religion, it isn’t about race.”
The demonstration on 11 November is due to begin at 12:45, more than an hour after the traditional two-minute silence.
All this hysteria in the news about the protest has motivated me even MORE to join on Saturday!
I actually wasn’t going to go, because it’s an enormous pain for me to get in to London, but you know what, I’m tempted to go now.
And what will your sign read?
Funny how “quit bombing refugee camps and ‘safe’ passage ways” or “end the apartheid state that encourages Hamas violence” or “stop the Palestinian genocide” or “stop stealing land and homes” are missing from your list, as is “Israel should stop funding Hamas”.
Curuous that you don’t seem to want to stop the causes, just the reactions to the decades of Israeli barbarity 🤔
thousands of dead civilians including children missing from your list, curious
While I agree with all of those things, I can only choose one thing. The protest is to call for a ceasefire on Gaza, so my sign will reflect that.
Out of interest, do you think Israel’s response to the attack by Hamas is disproportionate?
As of today:
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