logo
Pro-Palestine protester dressed as Holocaust victim goes unchallenged by Met cops — amid claims of two-tier policing

Pro-Palestine protester dressed as Holocaust victim goes unchallenged by Met cops — amid claims of two-tier policing

Scottish Sun7 hours ago

Labour Against Antisemitism also slammed the outfit for 'appropriating and distorting the Holocaust'
NO ACTION Pro-Palestine protester dressed as Holocaust victim goes unchallenged by Met cops — amid claims of two-tier policing
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
A PROTESTER dressed as a Holocaust victim goes unchallenged by Met cops — amid claims of two-tier policing.
Maria Gallastegui sparked outrage by wearing a concentration camp-style uniform - swapping the yellow star for an Islamic symbol - at a Westminster demo.
Sign up for Scottish Sun
newsletter
Sign up
2
While ignoring the sick Holocaust stunt, it's claimed officers warned men waving Israeli flags
Credit: Alamy
2
Cops look away and take no action against a protester dressed as a Holocaust victim - sparking claims of two-tier policing
Credit: Alamy
Jewish leaders and MPs hit out at the Met, claiming officers warned men waving Israeli flags they could breach the peace but ignored Ms Gallastegui's stunt.
It comes after a man was prosecuted for burning a Koran in London, fuelling claims of 'double standards' in policing.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: 'We appear to have a two-tier blasphemy law in this country, which protects Islam from offensive references but not others.'
Labour Against Antisemitism also slammed the outfit for 'appropriating and distorting the Holocaust.'
The group said it 'was clearly designed to cause distress'.
They have written to Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley demanding action over the protest outside Parliament.
Ms Gallastegui, 66, defended herself, saying: 'This is a history lesson for now, and by no means is it meant to be anti-Semitic.
Changing the symbols of the yellow star to the crescent and star is simply to illustrate that point.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatens more attacks on US after week-long disappearance
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatens more attacks on US after week-long disappearance

Belfast Telegraph

time27 minutes ago

  • Belfast Telegraph

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatens more attacks on US after week-long disappearance

It was Khamenei's first televised address in a week, and came shortly before the US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth held a press conference to repeat claims an American bombing raid on Iran at the weekend was a resounding success. But a pre-recorded video may have done little to alleviate concerns about the future of the ayatollah's future, who has been notably absent in the aftermath of Donald Trump's attack. 'The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America's face,' he claimed, in apparent reference to an Iranian missile attack on an American base in nearby Qatar on Monday, which caused no casualties. 'The fact that the Islamic Republic has access to important American centres in the region and can take action against them whenever it deems necessary is not a small incident, it is a major incident, and this incident can be repeated in the future if an attack is made. 'Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price.' They don't know what the f*** they're doing" - Trump swears in outburst over Israel and Iran ceasefire Khamenei went on to claim the US had only intervened in the war because 'it felt that if it did not, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed', adding that the United States 'achieved no gains' from the conflict. The 86-year-old Khamenei hasn't been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war June 13, when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and targeted top military commanders and scientists. The last time Iranians saw Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a similar message on 19 June, he was railing against the United States and vowing he would 'not surrender'. But that was before the US bombed the country's nuclear facilities, and already, irreparable damage may have been caused to his regime. Khamenei has ruled Iran for 36 years. He was imprisoned before the 1979 revolution and maimed by a bomb attack before becoming leader in 1989. He is committed to maintaining Iran's Islamic system of government and deeply mistrustful of the West. Several of Khamenei's main military and security advisers were killed in Israeli airstrikes during what the Americans have dubbed the '12-day war'. Five people familiar with his decision-making process told Reuters those deaths have left major holes in his inner circle, increasing the risk of 'extremely dangerous' strategic errors. Among those killed were the overall commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, the head of Iran's ballistic missile programme and aerospace chief Amir Ali Hajizadeh, and spymaster Mohammad Kazemi. Foreign support Tehran may have expected from China and Russia never materialised. And Iran's network of militant proxy groups – the 'Axis of Resistance' – once wielded significant power across the Middle East. But now, those groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, are in disarray, having been decimated over the past two years since the Hamas October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Following Israel's attack on Iran on 13 June, a group of industry leaders across business, politics, the military and religion began working on a plan to run the country without Khamenei, two sources involved in those discussions told The Atlantic. 'Ours is just one idea,' one person involved in conversations told the publication. 'Tehran is now full of such plots … Everybody knows Khamenei's days are numbered.' After the US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, that person told The Atlantic the chances of succeeding in taking power from Khamenei had increased. Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told the Associated Press that the most pressing task for Khamenei will be rooting out any disloyalty among his advisers. "There must be some sort of purge. But who will implement it? That is the question," he said. Mr Azizi said the war could fuel a change in the Islamic Republic itself, pushing the country's leadership towards a military-led rule rather than the current hierarchy which places Shiite clerics at the top. "People have been talking of a transition from clergy-dominated Islamic Republic to a military-dominated Islamic Republic," Azizi said. "This war has made that scenario more plausible. The next government will be more military-security oriented." It was Iran's military leaders and senior politicians who spoke out after the American bombings, which combined with the supreme leader's public absence led some Iranians to publicly question Khamenei's condition. A host on Iranian state television asked an official from Khamenei's office about the wellbeing of the country's leader, the New York Times reports. The official, Mehdi Fazaeli, said the office had received many inquiries from people worried about the supreme leader, and said: 'We should all be praying'. He added: 'God willing, our people can celebrate victory next to their leader, God willing." © The Independent

Friday briefing: How ​years of ​siege, ​war and ​blockade ​led to ​the ​unravelling of Gaza's ​economy
Friday briefing: How ​years of ​siege, ​war and ​blockade ​led to ​the ​unravelling of Gaza's ​economy

The Guardian

time28 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Friday briefing: How ​years of ​siege, ​war and ​blockade ​led to ​the ​unravelling of Gaza's ​economy

Good morning. While much of the world's attention has been focused on Israel's conflict with Iran, the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has worsened by the day. Since March, when Israel broke a ceasefire agreement and imposed a total blockade, very little food or medicine has been allowed in. Though the blockade was partially lifted on 19 May, only a trickle of desperately needed aid has made it through – and yesterday Israel closed the most direct route. Israeli forces have killed hundreds of Palestinians who are trying to access it, in what aid workers are now calling a 'death trap'. Israel is fighting allegations of genocide in Gaza, where it has killed more than 55,000 people. Truly to understand the scale of the catastrophe in Gaza, it's necessary to place it in historical context. This isn't just a crisis born in 2023: it's the culmination of nearly two decades of siege. For today's newsletter, I spoke to British-Palestinian economist Zayne Abudaka, senior fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Progress in Ramallah, about how Gaza's years of economic strangulation has shaped the current crisis. That's after the headlines. Middle East crisis | Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has threatened to respond to any future US attack by striking American military bases in the Middle East. Welfare | Keir Starmer has offered Labour MPs 'massive concessions' on his controversial welfare bill in a move that has won over key rebels and is likely to have saved the prime minister from a damaging Commons defeat. The changes will reportedly cost the government several billion pounds over the next few years but will shore up the prime minister's precarious authority. UK weather | An amber heat health alert has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency for much of England because of predicted temperatures above 30C over the weekend. UK news | Two police officers who were involved in the strip-search of a black teenager at her school have been found to have committed gross misconduct. The search was 'disproportionate, inappropriate and unnecessary' and made the girl feel degraded and humiliated. Health | Scientists have developed a test to identify women with an increased risk of miscarriage, which could pave the way for new treatments to prevent pregnancy loss. The blockade of Gaza was imposed after Hamas took over in 2007 and Israel declared that it was now a 'hostile territory'. With the support of Egypt, Israel sealed Gaza by land, sea and air, devastating its economy, driving unemployment to record levels and leaving the population dependent on aid to survive. Though it may seem impossibly distant now, life before 2007 was very different, even though Israeli forces were still occupying Gaza. 'A lot of people talk about those times as better: there was more money, and a better economy,' Zayne Abudaka said. According to UN Trade and Development, real GDP per capita in Gaza dropped by more than 27% between 2006 and 2022. Here's how that happened – and how it shaped the current catastrophe. What was Gaza like before the blockade? Before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, a Palestinian in Gaza could get in a car and drive to Haifa in Israel without checkpoints or permits. 'Obviously there were no civil rights, there was a lot of oppression, because you had an entire national identity without self-determination,' Abudaka said. 'But in terms of freedom of mobility, access to resources, and opening a business, it was pretty straightforward.' Before the formation of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the economy relied heavily on productive industries like farming, although farmers were, and still are, regularly harassed by Israelis, Abudaka said. Then the PA created a huge raft of public sector jobs. 'So all the people whose kids were going to become farmers, they started telling the children, 'why go through this headache? Why don't you work for the PA?'' The influx of aid, which increased rapidly until 2013, further empowered the PA to absorb workers from different sectors. 'The things that the Oslo accords had introduced, including the division of the different areas, lack of access to borders and to energy generation created a situation whereby the only jobs that were increasing were public sector and international NGO jobs,' Abduka said. 'And all the productive jobs like industry and agriculture started dying down.' He points to a stark statistic: in 1996, more than 20% of the Palestinian territories' GDP came from industry. Today, it hovers around 10%. When the second intifada erupted in 2000, the deaths of thousands of Palestinians and Israelis were accompanied by an intensifying Israeli occupation and the destruction of key infrastructure. 'We lost 30 to 40% of our GDP in a single year,' Abudaka said. 'Cities were under siege, curfews were imposed, you couldn't leave your house. It was a dramatic escalation in violence. People were left feeling desperate.' What has been the impact of the siege? After Israel imposed its blockade, trade and investment collapsed. 'Unfortunately the PA did not direct its finances to investing in the economic productive base,' Abudaka said. 'So you have a lack of investment, less jobs, and end up in a situation where two-thirds of young people are unemployed.' The siege imposed restrictions on a list of items that it was claimed that Hamas could use to make weapons and rockets – many of which were essentials for civilian life. It included wedding dresses, baby bottles and nappies, and water and sewage pumps. Agriculture also suffered from the territory's extreme density. Gaza spans just 360 sq km, and its population grew significantly before the war. As a result, traditional farmland quickly became overbuilt. 'In the north of Gaza, there was an area called Sheikh Ijlin, which was known for really good grapes. The area has 300,000 people living in one sq km. If you had walked in that area, you would have seen buildings and grapes side by side.' How did Gaza try to adapt? Gaza's local authorities set out new rules to manage the siege economy. 'You would go on the ministry website and see how many dunams, a unit of area, of every single plant they had. So they managed to say, 'We need this many tomatoes, so we'll do that',' Abudaka said. In some ways, Gaza's strangled economy had the potential to function better than the more prosperous West Bank's. 'The West Bank is not one continuous area,' Abudaka said. 'The PA controls these tiny islands that are surrounded by settlements. Although Gaza was seized, it was one area. So the people living there had control over their resources, which meant that they had services that worked. They had agriculture production despite everything.' But these adapted resources were battered by the wars that followed in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2021, and 2023. After each war came promises of reconstruction, but only a fraction of the aid money that was pledged ever materialised, Abudaka said. Israel wanted reassurances that aid that went in couldn't fund Hamas's military activity, Abudaka said. 'This led to the creation of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, which is a security arrangement where Israeli security checks the goods that enter. It didn't stop Hamas from building tunnels. It did annihilate Gaza's economy.' What does the future hold for those living there? What is now unfolding in Gaza is a process of 'de-development,' Abudaka said. In 2006, about 63% of Palestinians in Gaza relied on aid. Today, almost all of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants depend on humanitarian assistance. A smaller, yet still damaging version of this is playing out in the occupied West Bank. Abudaka pointed to the banking system as one example. 'Because we don't have our own currency, we use four, including the Israeli shekel. But we can't deposit physical shekels with the Israeli central bank unless we prove where they came from. So Palestinian banks end up holding piles of cash they can't use. That limits lending, which hurts growth,' he said. Another issue is clearance revenues. 'Because we don't have a customs authority at the border, the Israeli authorities will collect that tax in our place. And then they'll send us the money back, but we have to show them receipts, which is often impossible because we don't control the borders. Then we go to the Israelis and say, 'You owe us 100m.' And they say, 'No … we're keeping the other 50m because you didn't provide all the receipts. On top of that, the Israelis take 3% as a fee.' Now far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich is trying to stop the money altogether. 'But this isn't the whole story … He wants the PA to be simply a military force that looks Palestinian, but is actually Israeli. A force that controls Palestinians, but doesn't provide them with services.' This crushing Israeli control over every facet of ordinary life, Abudaka said, is forcing young Palestinians to confront a difficult question. 'You do see a lot of Palestinian young people who are saying, listen, I love my country. I just don't have a future,' he says. 'We have really been steadfast, but this can't go on.' Kirsty Major kicks off a fascinating series on Europe's housing crisis and how it's stoking support for the far right – but, she reports, it doesn't have to be this way. (And do subscribe to our weekly email This Is Europe.) Craille Maguire Gillies, production editor, newsletters Ahead of the Women's Euro 2025 kicking off on Wednesday, the Guardian has compiled these interactive profiles of every one of the 368 women taking part, each written by local journalists from each nation. Charlie Lindlar, acting deputy editor, newsletters I loved this compilation of Guardian readers' favourite films of 2025 so far. I don't typically seek out a new Nic Cage film, but after one reader made a compelling case for The Surfer, I just might check it out. (Thanks Joe in Leeds!) Craille An interesting piece here from Nicole Carpenter on what happens when game developers are falsely accused of using generative AI in their work. 'It's completely unfair that so many people who have honed their craft for years are … being wrongfully accused,' says one. Charlie In her newsletter Culture Study, Anne Helen Petersen has an earnest obit for Mozilla's Pocket, which has joined other web-reading tools in the internet cemetery in the cloud. 'I miss the internet that wanted to be read, not scrolled.' Craille Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Football | Manchester City won Group G of the Club World Cup with a dominant performance on Thursday, beating Juventus 5-2 at Camping World Stadium. Erling Haaland's goal in the second half marked the 300th of his career. Cricket | England have fast-tracked Jofra Archer into their squad to face India in the second Test at Edgbaston next week. The 30-year-old fast bowler returns to the Test setup for the first time since February 2021. Football | Cristiano Ronaldo has signed a new two-year deal at Al Nassr, extending his stay with the Saudi Pro League team to June 2027, when the forward will be 42. The Guardian leads with ''Massive concessions' on welfare bill win over key Labour rebels'. The Financial Times has 'Starmer yields to avert Labour 'civil war' over cuts to welfare'. The Daily Mail and the Telegraph both go with 'Starmer caves in to rebels on benefits', while the Times has 'PM pledges protections for disabled to rescue bill'. The Mirror says 'New hope on PIPs', while the Sun goes its own way, reporting 'Killer back stalking Cheryl'. Our critics' roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now Music Lorde: Virgin | ★★★★☆ Lorde began her career speaking directly to her fellow teens about stuff that mattered to them – paving the way for Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo et al in the process – and is now continuing to grow up alongside her fans. That's always a tough job, but one Lorde seems more than capable of thanks to writing that remains as skilful and incisive as it did when she was precociously skewering pop's obsession with unattainable lifestyles from an Auckland suburb in 2013. Virgin is powerful, moving, personal but universal – and packed with bangers. Alexis Petridis TVThe Bear | ★★★★☆ Recalibrate your palate: The Bear is not the show it used to be. More than ever, it's a show about family – the traumas they inflict on each other and the power they have to soothe them – and how families extend to friends and colleagues who can be just as beloved and just as maddening. Where once The Bear made pulses pound, now it lets the happy tears flow; the second half of the season is like one long therapy session. Jack Seale Film FI | ★★★★☆ Brad Pitt gets behind the wheel in this outrageously cheesy but extravagantly shot Formula One melodrama. Along with a lot of enjoyable hokum about the old guy mentoring the rookie hothead, F1 the Movie gives you the corporate sheen, real-life race footage with Brad as the star in an unreasonably priced car, the tech fetish of the cars themselves (almost making you forget how amazingly ugly they are), and the bizarre occult spectacle of motor racing. Peter Bradshaw Games Death Stranding 2 | ★★★★★ This latest offering from Hideo Kojima has the atmosphere and narrative delivery of arthouse cinema. It's light of touch in its storytelling but exhaustive in its gameplay systems, and the tension between the two makes it compelling. Of the many things the game is trying to say, the message that comes to the fore is: you are never truly alone. Global disasters, big tech, even death itself – these things might abstract the way we connect to one another, but they can't sever the connection altogether. Not bad for a game about delivering boxes. Phil Iwaniuk 'It'll push disabled people into poverty': Labour's controversial welfare bill Guardian columnist Frances Ryan on the reality of being disabled in the UK and the impact of the government's proposed cuts. A bit of good news to remind you that the world's not all bad Waymap, a new app-based navigation technology designed to assist blind, partially sighted, and disabled people, has been installed at Lord's cricket ground in London. Lord's is the first sports stadium in the world to use such a personal GPS system. England visually impaired cricketer Moshfique Ahmed was among the first to test the app at Lord's. Using his cane and following the app's voice directions, he was able to move independently around the ground. Although he encountered a few misdirections, these issues were attributed to the app still learning his walking style. Ahmed expressed hope that this technology could significantly improve accessibility for visually impaired sports fans, 'I know so many people who are into sports but don't go. This would push the door completely open for them.' Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday And finally, the Guardian's puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

Super Bowl 59 halftime show protester arrested months later
Super Bowl 59 halftime show protester arrested months later

The Herald Scotland

time38 minutes ago

  • The Herald Scotland

Super Bowl 59 halftime show protester arrested months later

During Super Bowl 59 on Feb. 9, Lamar closed out his halftime show performance with his single "tv off." During the song, a man dressed in black went rogue on stage and ran around the set while he waved a Palestinian flag that read "Sudan" and "Gaza." The protester then stood atop a black lowrider vehicle and moved toward the 50-yard-line before security tackled him to the ground. The NFL confirmed to USA TODAY the day after Super Bowl 59 that the person had the flag hidden on himself before the show. Officials said state troopers began to investigate the incident after it occurred and identified the protester as Nantambu. An investigation revealed Nantambu confirmed he was hired as an extra for the performance and while he was allowed to be on the field, he "deviated from his assigned role" and did not have permission to perform the demonstration. Authorities added that law enforcement apprehended Nantambu during the show after he allegedly refused to comply with a stop order. After the incident, New Orleans police said the protester would not be arrested or charged, but it was the state police who conducted the action. Louisiana State Police arrested Nantambu and charged him with resisting an officer and disturbing the peace by interruption of a lawful assembly. He is currently booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center. The NFL previously told USA TODAY the protester would be banned for life from all of the league's stadiums and events. "We take any attempt to disrupt any part of an NFL game, including the halftime show, very seriously and are pleased this individual will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," the NFL said in a statement to the Associated Press. After the incident, Nantambu told NBC News he wanted to use the moment to "highlight the human suffering" related to the Israeli-Hamas war. Nantambu is also related to an incident involving a former NFL player, as he confirmed to TMZ Sports that he was the victim in an alleged shooting involving Antonio Brown. According to an arrest warrant in Miami-Dade County (Florida), first reported by the Washington Post, Brown is facing a charge of attempted murder with a firearm stemming from an altercation outside of a May 16 boxing event in Miami.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store