Tens of thousands of people march in London under high surveillance “for Palestine”

Police arrest a demonstrator near a pro-Palestinian march accompanied by a nationalist counter-demonstration, in London, November 11, 2023 © AFP – JUSTIN TALLIS

According to several British media, Tommy Robinson, founder of far-right group English Defense League, is among these counter-protesters.

Scuffles took place at the end of the morning between the police and nationalist activists who tried to approach the area of ​​Whitehall where find the memorial to British soldiers who died in battle.

The officers “suffered violence and attacks from counter-protesters who threw bottles and other projectiles at them. We will respond firmly to this disorder and this unacceptable aggression,” said the Metropolitan Police on X (ex-Twitter ).

She claimed to have arrested two people, suspected of possessing a knife and a stick, and is currently holding “a large group” of these counter-protesters behind a security cordon in a street of the capital.

– Political crisis –

The organization of the march turned into a political crisis, the government having put pressure on the police to ban it, which the latter refused.

Rishi Sunak warned that he would hold the police chief, Mark Rowley, “responsible” for possible excesses.

Tens of thousands of people take part in a “National March for Palestine” in London, November 11, 2023 © AFP – HENRY NICHOLLS

Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who described the protests as pro- Palestinian “hate marches”, sparked a flood of criticism after publicly accusing the police of having “double standards” in their management of the demonstrations.

Friday evening, she affirmed that she “totally supported” the police, but several political leaders accused her of adding fuel to the fire before the procession took place.

Several elected officials from the opposition again called on Saturday for his departure from the government, like the Scottish Prime Minister Humza Yousaf.

“The far right was encouraged by the Minister of the Interior (…) They are now attacking the police on Armistice Day. The position of the Minister of the Interior is untenable. She must resign,” he wrote on X.

The war has left 1,200 dead in Israel, the majority civilians killed in the unprecedented attack on October 7 by Hamas, according to a downwardly revised toll from the Israeli government, and 11,078 dead in the bombings carried out in retaliation by Israel in the Gaza Strip, mainly civilians too, including 4,506 children, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.

Since the start of the conflict, the United Kingdom has experienced an increase in anti-Semitic and islamophobic.

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