Latest news with #LabourAgainstAntisemitism
Scottish Sun
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Pro-Palestine protester dressed as Holocaust victim goes unchallenged by Met cops — amid claims of two-tier policing
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.'
The Sun
8 hours ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Pro-Palestine protester dressed as Holocaust victim goes unchallenged by Met cops — amid claims of two-tier policing
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. 2 2 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.'
Telegraph
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Two-tier policing row over Palestine protester dressed as Holocaust victim
Scotland Yard has been accused of 'two-tier' justice after police ignored a Palestine protester dressed as a Holocaust concentration camp inmate. Jewish leaders and MPs criticised the 'religiously aggravated' outfit worn by Maria Gallastegui, in which she replaced the star worn by inmates with an Islamic symbol. They complained that the police failed to challenge a protest 'clearly designed to cause distress', but warned men 'waving Israeli flags' at a Palestine Action march they could be guilty of breaching the peace. Ms Gallastegui, 66, a full-time protester who gave up her job as a coach driver nearly 20 years ago for a life of activism, joined a protest against plans to ban the group Palestine Action after its activists attacked RAF aircraft with paint. Critics contrasted her treatment with that of Hamit Coskun, who was prosecuted and fined for a religiously aggravated public order offence after he set fire to a Koran outside the Turkish consulate in London. Free speech advocates argue that offensive behaviour should not be criminalised, regardless of whether it is committed by protesters against Islam, such as Mr Coskun, or against Israel. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: 'We appear to have a two-tier blasphemy law in this country, which protects Islam from offensive references, but not others.' Alex Hearn, of Labour Against Antisemitism (LAAS), said: 'Dressing as a concentration camp inmate, with the yellow patch replaced by an Islamic symbol, has caused many people upset. 'This religiously aggravated performance appropriated and distorted the Holocaust and was clearly designed to cause distress. It's shocking that while police act swiftly on less obvious public offences, this blatant display went unchallenged at the heart of our democracy.' LAAS has written to Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, asking him to investigate the incident as a potentially religiously aggravated offence that had 'appropriated and distorted the Holocaust' and risked 'trivialising the suffering of six million Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution'. Ms Gallastegui has been arrested previously over the past two decades including during a protest for the right to protest in Parliament Square in August 2005. She previously lived in a tent in Parliament Square for six years after joining the campaign against proposals to change the law to restrict protests in front of the Commons and Lords. In 2021, she lived and slept in a 150 year old tree in Hackney to challenge the council's 'reckless' and 'irresponsible' plans to fell it to make way for a 600-home development. 'We are passionate people,' she previously told the BBC at the time. 'Any campaign that we can think of doesn't start overnight. There are a lot of underlying issues that the system is not dealing with.' A supporter of Julian Assange, the the Wikileaks co-founder, she was banned from going within 100 yards of Belmarsh prison after she damaged a wall in a mock jail break attempt while he was held in the jail. Ms Gallastegui used a drill against a prison wall, where he was held during his lengthy battle to avoid extradition to the US, next to a sign that said 'jailbreak in progress'. 'Priti Patel Save Julian Assange' was also sprayed on the wall during the stunt. She previously appeared dressed in the Holocaust outfit in a protest to support Kneecap, the Irish republican rap group, after one of the band's members was charged with a terror offence for displaying a flag in support of Hamas, which is proscribed as a terrorist group in the UK. At Monday's protest, Ms Gallastegui was pictured carrying a placard that said: 'We are all Palestine Action,' a message that could lead to criminal action once the group is proscribed. Anyone who is a member of or supports Palestine Action could face up to 14 years in jail once its proscription is enacted in the next fortnight. One Jewish observer said: 'One cannot help but conclude that if the police do not stand with us against this hatred, then they stand with those who hate us. There is no middle ground when it comes to abusing the memory of the Holocaust. It is done as a deliberate act of provocation and religious division.' Ms Gallastegui issued a statement, saying: 'Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp was liberated by the British Army in 1945 following WW2. 'The world was shocked and horrified at the appalling sight of the starving, emaciated prisoners and the piles of decaying bodies in their stripped uniforms. 'Afterwards, the international community affirmed never to let this happen again. 'Never Again'. Fast forward to now, and the same scenario is being carried out again - but this time the concentration camp and the people being deliberately starved are the people of Gaza. '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.'
Telegraph
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
BBC accused of using Hamas official's son in documentary about ‘ordinary Palestinians'
The BBC has been accused of focusing a documentary about ordinary Palestinians on the son of a Hamas government minister without disclosing the connection. The documentary, Gaza: How To Survive a War Zone, was broadcast on Monday evening as an account of the conflict through the eyes of three children whose lives have been devastated by Israel's military campaign against Hamas. The hour-long film was narrated by a 14-year-old English -speaking boy named Abdullah, who is listed in the film's credits under his full name, Abdullah Al-Yazouri. It has since been claimed that Abdullah's father Ayman Alyazouri is a senior figure who currently holds the position of deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas-run government. Critics have said the BBC has allowed itself to be used as a propaganda platform for Hamas by giving airtime to the child of one of its senior figures. The child's alleged family background was not revealed to viewers and it is not clear if the film crew were aware of the Hamas links. The campaign group Labour Against Antisemitism has lodged a formal complaint to the BBC about the broadcast, claiming that the team failed to properly vet the documentary's subjects. Alex Hearn, from Labour Against Antisemitism, said: 'This documentary appears to have been a failure of due diligence by the BBC, with Hamas propaganda promoted as reliable fact at the taxpayers' expense. 'There needs to be an urgent investigation into how this happened once again. 'Misinformation is the story of the Israel-Hamas conflict, and this is not an isolated case. There has been a failure of news platforms to adequately scrutinise sources and a willingness to regurgitate Hamas disinformation repeatedly.' The BBC has defended the hour-long film, stating it had full editorial control over the content and that the children's parents had no editorial input. When asked by The Telegraph about Abdullah's alleged links to Hamas, the corporation did not provide comment. Questions about the film were first raised by David Collier, an investigative journalist. Abdullah, who attended the British school in Gaza before the war, has previously appeared in a Channel 4 news item, broadcast in November 2023, speaking about devastation wrought by Israeli bombing. In the Channel 4 piece Abdullah was accompanied during his tour of the ruins near his home by a man presented to viewers as his father. However, the man accompanying Abdullah is understood to be his uncle, Khalil Abu Shamala, who in a Facebook post from 2022 appears to refer Abdullah as 'my nephew'. Mr Shamala is understood to be the former director of an non-governmental organisation called Al Dameer, which campaigns on behalf of Palestinian fighters jailed by Israel. Al Dameer is accused of links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organisation by the US, the EU, Canada, and Israel. Mr Alyazouri's own social media timelines appears to contain a number of references to his son Abdullah or 'Aboud'. In one post, from January last year, Mr Alyazouri wrote: 'Aboud… May God protect him' next a photograph of a young boy who appears to be Abdullah. Mr Alyazouri previously appeared to praise two Hamas 'martyrs' who were said to have been involved in the murder of four Israelis in 2023. Status and influence Questions have been raised over whether considering their status and influence, Abdullah's family should have been well known to the production team behind the documentary, particularly the two local Palestinian cameramen who filmed the three children. Writing on X, Mr Collier said: 'The two photographers followed these children around for months. They absolutely knew who he was. Did either of the producers? 'How did the BBC let a son of a Hamas minister walk around looking for sympathy and demonising Israel for an hour in a BBC documentary?' The row comes only a few days after Danny Cohen, the former director of BBC Television, warned that the broadcaster risks becoming a mouthpiece for Hamas. Mr Cohen told The Telegraph that the latest revelations confirmed his fears. He said: 'This appears to be another appalling example of journalistic failure and anti-Israel bias. The BBC appears to have given an hour of prime-time coverage to the son of a senior member of the Hamas terrorist group. 'Questions must be asked as to whether the BBC carried out the most basic journalistic checks.' Mr Cohen added: 'Licence fee payers across the UK are being repeatedly conned into paying for Hamas PR. There can be no doubt now that the BBC has a very serious problem with the quality of its journalism and anti-Israel bias.' How To Survive A War Zone was produced for BBC2 by Jamie Roberts, whose previous work includes ' Ukraine: Enemy in the Woods ', and 'This Is Gaza' which followed filmmaker Yousef Hammash, a Palestinian currently living in the UK. The film – which was nine months in the making – also looks at the plight of Zakaria, 11, and 10-year-old Renad. Zakaria volunteers at the al-Aqsa hospital, transporting the dead and wounded and cleaning ambulances, while Renad is shown cooking with her sister while bombing continues nearby. At one point Zakaria is asked: 'Do you like Hamas?'. He replies: 'No, because they started the war… They caused all this misery.' In the documentary's opening scene Abdullah, whose surname in the film's credits is spelled in a different style by the BBC to that of his father, is filmed walking through the ruins of a district devastated by bombing, as he asks: 'Have you ever wondered what you'd do if your world is destroyed? Most important, could you stay alive? After all this, you could say we're experts.' A BBC spokesman said: 'Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, a documentary showing the conflict through the eyes of three children in Gaza, was produced in line with BBC editorial guidelines and the BBC had full editorial control. 'The film told the children's own stories, showing viewers their direct experiences of living through a war, and the children's parents did not have any editorial input. 'As the BBC has previously explained, the film was edited and directed from London, as independent international journalists are not allowed into Gaza. The film gives audiences a rare glimpse of Gaza during the war, as well as an insight into the children's lives. It hears the voices of other Gazan civilians, several of whom voice anti-Hamas sentiments.'
