The march was held on Armistice Day, when the UK commemorates its war dead each year with solemn ceremonies at war memorials.
The event came after a week of tension in which the government called for it to be canceled and police said scores of people had been arrested.
Around 150 people in the mass protest were detained under public order laws for wearing face coverings and setting off fireworks, while 82 counter-protesters were detained to prevent them from entering the main procession.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, condemned the far-right protesters and those who sympathize with the Islamist group “Hamas”.
“I condemn the violent and totally unacceptable scenes we witnessed today from the EDL (English Defense League) and its affiliated groups and Hamas supporters at the National March for Palestine,” Sunak said in a statement. “The deplorable actions of a minority of people harm those who have chosen to express their opinions peacefully.”
Sunak, who has resisted calls for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, said what he called far-right thugs, anti-Semitic chants and pro-Hamas signs and clothing had overshadowed the memorial weekend.
On Sunday, King Charles III will lead a national commemoration at the war memorial, attended by senior members of the royal family, political leaders and veterans.
The march, organized by the Stop the War coalition, is the biggest in London since Hamas killed more than 1,200 people, according to Israel. people and took about 240 hostages on October 7.
According to the Health Ministry of the Hamas-run coastal enclave, Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip has killed just over 11,000 people. people.
The police estimated that 300,000 people came to the rally. people, and the organizers indicated that there were 800 thousand of them. This is equivalent to the huge number of people who marched in the UK capital in 2003 against the war in Iraq.
More people were arrested on Saturday than at any previous pro-Palestinian march, where people were arrested for hate crimes and support for Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist organization in the UK.
About 1,850 police officers, including those from other British forces, were called in to keep the peace.
Interior Minister Suella Braverman, increasingly vocal about her right-wing views, accused police this week of favoring so-called left-wing protests over others, calling the pro-Palestinian demonstrations hate marches.
Support for the Palestinians is a long-standing position of the UK political left.
Pro-Palestinian rallies were also held in other European cities: several thousand gathered in Paris, and more than 20 thousand in Brussels. people.
#Hundreds #thousands #people #staged #proPalestinian #march #London #Armistice #Day
2024-09-21 20:57:28
