Met is accused of 'two-tier policing' after 'threatening to charge men for waving an Israeli flag' at Palestine Action clash
Met Police officers have been accused of 'two-tier policing' after allegedly threatening to charge two men for waving the Israeli flag at Palestine Action's protest yesterday.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at Trafalgar Square in response to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper 's plan to add the group to the government's list of proscribed terrorist organisations.
The decision came after members last week broke into RAF Brize Norton and damaged two military planes and other 'violent' action - including one incident where two police officers were assaulted with a sledgehammer.
At Palestine Action's protest on Monday, two Jewish men who waved an Israeli flag in counter-protest to the group said police forced them onto a double decker bus.
Trainee barrister Isaac Grand, 22, accused the Met of 'two-tier policing' after they escorted him away whilst protesters chanted 'Zionist scum' at him.
Speaking to The Telegraph, he claimed a 'young man' from the crowd tried to grab the Israeli flag before a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators 'surrounded' them and began 'pushing them'.
Mr Grand alleged that one of them was covering his entire face with a Palestine flag, which he said some would call 'assault and harassment'.
He added: 'I was exercising my right to protest, which seems to be a two-tier system.
'For some reason the pro-Palestinian protesters are able to commit crimes of assault and harassment against us and the police won't do anything about it.
'But for some reason when we exercise our rights to wave a flag or say, "We support Britain", that seems to be treated by the Met Police as some assault on them.'
Mr Grand called the alleged response 'a perverse system of justice'.
The other Jewish man, who asked to remain anonymous, said: 'We like Britain... but unfortunately it's becoming less and less visible for minorities who don't agree with whatever is woke today.'
Elsewhere at the protest, members of Palestine Action were seen clashing with police.
Officers were forced to drag activists out of the crowds after they were seen scuffling with officers and shouting up close into their faces, with some wearing black face coverings or Palestinian keffiyehs.
This prompted protesters to respond by pushing back, throwing water and chanting at police.
The Met has been forced to deploy more than 100 officers to the rally which started at midday but quickly spilled into chaotic scenes. At least three protesters were arrested - two for obstruction and a third for a racially aggravated public order offence.
Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he was 'shocked' by the protest and described Palestine Action as an 'organised extremist criminal group'.
As the protest was going on, Ms Cooper announced she has decided to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group and will lay an order before Parliament next week to make membership and support for the them illegal.
The proscription of Palestine Action puts the group on a par with Hamas, al-Qaeda or ISIS under British law, banning anyone from promoting the group, arranging meetings or carrying its logo in public.
Those breaching the rules could face up to 14 years in jail.
Dozens of Palestinian flags have adorned Trafalgar Square as music from the pro-Palestinian northern-irish rap group 'Kneecap' was blasted from speakers.
A flurry of placards say: 'Hands off Palestine Action'.
By 1.30pm, protesters completely blocked the corner of Trafalgar Square going off to Duncannon Street.
Police officers made a blockade leading down the exit and all traffic grounded to a halt.
Officers received a barrage of verbal abuse from the crowds, with some shouting 'f*** you' and 'who do you serve?'. Other chants include 'oink oink piggy, we're going to make your lives s****y'.
One demonstrator said: 'We will cause mayhem today. We're here to break and smash the system. The police will get it. We don't care.'
Scotland Yard said the protest had to be finished by 3pm but demonstrators have vowed to stay 'well beyond'.
One said: 'They'll have to arrest us to get rid of us. We're not leaving. This is just the start.'
However, three hours after the disorder exploded onto the capital's streets, the protest had ended.
Calls have been growing for Palestine Action to be proscribed amid the group committing acts of serious damage to property with the aim of progressing its political cause and influencing the Government.
On Friday morning, the group posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The clip shows one person riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine. They managed to infiltrate the base and escape without being caught.
The group has staged a series of demonstrations in recent months, including spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint over its alleged links to Israeli defence company Elbit, and vandalising US President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.
In August last year, a police officer was taken to hospital after being hit with a sledgehammer while responding to reports of criminal damage by the group at the Bristol HQ of Elbit Systems.
Employees and police officers who intervened were assaulted, Avon and Somerset Constabulary said, and six people were arrested.
Sledgehammers, axes, whips and other homemade weapons were seized.
During the incident, two officers were assaulted with a sledgehammer.
The seriousness of all of these attacks includes the extent and nature of damage caused, including to targets affecting UK national security, and the impact on innocent members of the public fleeing for safety and subjected to violence.
The extent of damage across these three attacks alone, spreading the length and breadth of the UK, runs into the millions of pounds.
The Home Secretary has confirmed she is launching the process that will make it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group. She said the government 'will not tolerate those that put that security at risk'.
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