Mass arrests at Gaza protests across UK supporting proscribed ‘terrorist' group

Sydney Morning Herald

2 days ago

In London, police officers surrounded demonstrators who had gathered at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi that stands in a park across the street from the Houses of Parliament. Officers confiscated placards and searched the bags of those arrested.
In the capital, the Metropolitan Police said 55 people had been arrested in Parliament Square for displaying placards in support of Palestine Action, London's The Telegraph reported. The force said they were arrested under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
It later added that by 4pm, a further 10 people had been arrested within the main Palestine Coalition march, bringing the total to 65 in London.
The Telegraph reported that pro-Israel counter-protesters chanted 'there is no genocide' at thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, with one activist shouting: 'You use genocide as an excuse for your hatred for the Jewish state.'
They held signs that read 'There is no genocide – but there are 50 hostages still captive', and were met with shouts of 'fascist' and 'f--- your Jewish state' by some pro-Palestinian protesters.
The Telegraph also reported that eight people were arrested on the steps of Truro Cathedral in Cornwall. Defend Our Juries said one of those arrested was Deborah Hinton, an 81-year-old former magistrate. Video posted online showed police carrying an elderly man away from the Truro demonstration as he shouted, 'I oppose genocide.'
Critics of the protests described them as antisemitic.
'These chants just show how thin the veneer is and why they fixate on Israel. The fact is that they hate the idea of a Jewish state existing because they cannot stand the idea of Jews having self-determination,' a spokesman for the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism told the Telegraph.
'Palestine Action has always been an extreme and hateful organisation and, rather than arresting and releasing their supporters, they must now face the full force of the law.'
Meanwhile, a cast member unfolded a Palestinian flag on stage during a Royal Opera House production on Saturday night, London time, the Telegraph reported.
The incident took place during the encore of a performance of Il Trovatore at the London venue and attempts were made to remove the flag, which was resisted.
A member of the audience told the Telegraph: 'At the Royal Opera House, one of the cast unfurled a Palestinian flag at the encore.
'Someone ... came on stage from the wings to try to remove the flag from the cast member who wrestled it back and refused to give it up.' The Telegraph approached the Royal Opera House for comment.
In Gaza, at least 36 people were killed by Israeli fire while they were on their way to an aid distribution site at dawn on Saturday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots at suspects who approached its troops after they did not heed calls to stop, about a kilometre away from an aid distribution site that was not active at the time.
Gaza resident Mohammed al-Khalidi said he was in the group approaching the site and heard no warnings before the firing began.
'We thought they came out to organise us so we can get aid, suddenly (I) saw the jeeps coming from one side, and the tanks from the other and started shooting at us,' he said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group which runs the aid site, said there were no incidents or fatalities there on Saturday and that it had repeatedly warned people not to travel to its distribution points in the dark.
'The reported IDF (Israel Defence Forces) activity resulting in fatalities occurred hours before our sites opened and our understanding is most of the casualties occurred several kilometres away from the nearest GHF site,' it said.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 2023, killing 1200 people, mostly civilians and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.
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The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed around 58,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians according to health officials, displaced almost the entire population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis, leaving much of the territory in ruins.
Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks in Doha aimed at reaching a US-proposed 60-day ceasefire and a hostage deal mediated by Egypt and Qatar, though there has been no sign of any imminent breakthrough. At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are believed to still be alive.