London's Metropolitan Police have arrested more than 80 far-right demonstrators who tried to boycott the pro-Palestine and anti-Gaza bombing march, which was being held in the British capital on Saturday. Along the route, from Marble Arch Square to the U.S. embassy in the Vauxhall neighborhood on the south side of the Thames, members of the fascist group English Defence League (EDL) have attempted to ambush protesters.
A group of ultras, gathered outside theDuke of York pub near Victoria Station, chanted "Israel", noticeably affected by alcohol. In front of them, two officers on two huge horses stood undaunted, preventing the provocateurs from approaching the demonstrators who passed through the area carrying Palestinian flags.
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More than 2,000 police officers have constantly stepped in to prevent altercations. Tommy Robinson, the co-founder and former leader of the EDL, was among the protesters who had tried to approach the Cenotaph on Whitehall Avenue. This monument to the fallen in the wars has been specially protected by the security forces, who have prevented provocateurs who were marauding in the area from approaching it.
At least 300,000 people have taken part in the fourth pro-Palestinian protest since Hamas killed more than 1,400 Israelis on October 7 and Netanyahu's government deployed its response against Gaza. It was the largest demonstration to date, and coincided with Armistice Day, when the British celebrate the end of hostilities in World War I. Given the national symbolism of the celebration, Sunak's government tried to force Scotland Yard, throughout the week, to ban the demonstration. The tension between the Ministry of the Interior, headed by Suella Braverman, and the leadership of the Metropolitan Police caused tensions to rise in the previous days, and incited far-right groups ― who on Saturday shouted in the streets: "England to death" ― to try to break up a protest that, for the most part, It has been peaceful.
A man is arrested for trying to break up a pro-Palestine demonstration in London on Saturday. DYLAN MARTINEZ (REUTERS)
Thousands of banners proclaimed Free Palestine and Stop the Bombing. Some of the organizers, loudspeakers in hand, shouted the slogan that Braverman has tried unsuccessfully to stop in recent weeks – "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" – and which served as an argument to defend that the pro-Palestinian protests were in reality, according to the minister, an incitement to hatred and support for Islamist terrorism.
Celia Orbach, the daughter of an East German Jew who fled to London and left behind his family — all victims at Auschwitz — contrasted with the rest of the banners: "To be Jewish means to always be on the side of the oppressed, never with the oppressors," her sign read. "What happened on October 7 was appalling. Frightful. But I remember that my father was never comfortable with the idea of building a Jewish state by displacing other peoples. And I resist being forced to believe that history began on October 7," Celia explains.
Braverman's decision, against orders from Downing Street, to publish an op-ed in The Times newspaperaccusing Scotland Yard of applying double standards and favouring pro-Palestinian protests (as opposed to others such as those of the anti-lockdown protests, in the past) has irritated his own fellow Conservatives. the Labour opposition and Sunak himself, who is weighing whether to dispense with the minister in the government reshuffle planned for the coming days.
More than 20,000 people call for a ceasefire in Brussels
EFE
Some 21,000 people, according to police, took part in the so-called European March for Palestine in Brussels on Saturday, which called on the European Union and its member states to demand an immediate ceasefire in the conflict. Convened by some 40 civil society associations, trade unions and NGOs, the march sought to emphasize "the importance of respecting international law"; denounce "European inaction in the face of continued violations of international law in Palestine"; and "urgently" demand a ceasefire, according to a statement. Among other groups, the protest was supported by the Palestinian Community of Belgium and Luxembourg, the Belgian Committee in Support of the Saharawi People and members of the Union of Jewish Progressives of Belgium. The march began at 14:30 p.m. at the Gare du Nord in Brussels, and went for two hours, without altercations, through the center of the capital, to the Gare de Midi, south of the city.
In Paris, thousands of people also took to the streets on Saturday, called by left-wing and far-left parties and associations, to demand an immediate ceasefire and "an end to the massacre" in Gaza and the West Bank. Rallies in support of Palestine were virtually banned in France during the early days of the conflict, by a directive from Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who claimed there was a risk of disturbing public order.
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