Police brace for fresh clashes between pro-Palestine and Israel supporters with more UK protests planned for coming days after 5,000 attended demo outside Israeli embassy in London and set off flares and fireworks
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Police are braced for more clashes between pro-Palestine and Israel supporters with further protests planned in the coming days after 5,000 gathered outside the Israeli embassy in London last night.
Officers separated rival groups at High Street Kensington Underground station in west London, while in the street outside a large crowd lit flares and chanted ‘Israel is a terrorist state’, ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Allahu akbar’.
Protesters also let off fireworks, some directed at the boarded up embassy. The Met made three arrests, one for assault on an emergency worker, another for racially-motivated criminal damage and the third for possessing an offensive weapon.
Community leaders have warned of an antisemitic backlash sparked by the war between Israel and Hamas, and yesterday pupils at a major Jewish school in London were told they do not have to wear blazers in public.
Its headteacher also suspended after-school detentions to allow children to travel home on a school bus.
The Community Security Trust said it was already seeing incidents of ‘antisemitism against Jewish people and property’ since Hamas forces began murdering and kidnapping civilians on Saturday. Overnight, pro-Palestine graffiti was removed from a bridge in Golders Green – which is home to a large Jewish community.
Meanwhile, Lancashire Police are investigating after a pig’s head was left outside the site of a proposed mosque in Pendle at 2.10pm on Sunday. Officers are treating the incident as a racially aggravated public order offence and have stepped up patrols.
Pro-Palestine protesters gathered near the Israeli embassy in London last night to chant ‘Israel is a terrorist state’, ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Allahu akbar’
Police had to hold back rival groups inside High Street Kensington Tube station last night
Protesters waving Israeli flags with pro-Palestine placards seen in the background
In Kensington yesterday, pro-Palestine protesters banged drums and chanted ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’. At other protests across the UK, activists proclaimed: ‘Let there be bloodshed.’
Around ten protesters scaled a Bupa Dental Care building on High Street Kensington where they scrawled ‘free Palestine’ in red and green spray paint onto the wall. Various activist groups turned up in support, including the Socialist Worker, which had set up at least three stalls.
But Israelis caught wind of the protest and swarmed the area, forcing police to hold back rival groups inside High Street Kensington Tube station.
Police had to escort supporters of both countries onto the platforms where tensions threatened to boil over. One Israeli goaded a group of Palestinians by holding an Israel flag up against the window as the Tube left High Street Kensington.
READ MORE – Israel and Palestine supporters are separated by police after protest outside Israel’s London embassy turns ugly
Brit Patricia Ryan, who was at the rally with her Palestinian husband, told MailOnline she was ‘surprised like everybody’ by the Hamas attack, but added: ‘We feel that there had to be a huge tectonic movement for any change to occur in the Middle East. 75 years is a long time. Nothing, nothing was happening.’
Further protests are planned in the coming days, including one outside the BBC’s Broadcasting House in London on Saturday.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly today urged pro-Palestine supporters in the UK not to protest, saying demonstrations are creating “distress”, and arguing that there is no “equivalence” between Hamas’s attack and Tel Aviv’s response.
He told Sky News: “There is no need, there is no necessity for people to come out. It causes distress. This is a difficult, delicate situation.”
He said the protests are causing concern in the Jewish community, “who have often been on the receiving end of prejudice and threats of violence”.
Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator, declined to tell people not to protest in support of the Palestinian people, but made clear that his party stands with Israel’s “right to defend itself”.
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited a synagogue in north London to express his solidarity for Israel and to reassure Britain’s Jews.
One Israel supporter goaded a group of Palestinians by holding an Israel flag up against the window as the Tube left High Street Kensington
Overnight, pro-Palestine graffiti on a bridge in Golders Green was covered over with black paint
The North London borough is home to a large Jewish community
Mr Sunak told the United Synagogue in Finchley yesterday evening: “There are not two sides to these events. There is no question of balance. I stand with Israel.”
Mr Cleverly echoed the Prime Minister’s stance, saying it is “inappropriate” to attempt to compare the acts of Israel’s military to the incursion by Hamas.
“The truth is that the reason we express our solidarity with the people of Israel is because terrorists took action to murder, to kidnap, and we’re now seeing reports that they are threatening to execute people that they have kidnapped,” he told Sky.
READ MORE – Activist who called Hamas terror attacks ‘beautiful and inspiring’ during Brighton rally is an elected Women’s officer at University of Sussex students’ union
“The idea that somehow there is an equivalence, there is a kind of a balancing act between the actions of the Israeli government and their self-defence, and the actions of Hamas and their terrorists, is completely inappropriate.
“I wouldn’t want to do anything which would imply that to be the case. Of course, we want to see the minimisation of loss of life.”
Police across the country are on high alert for any sign of tension in the Middle East spilling out onto British streets, with reassurance patrols mounted in some parts of London.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan predicted antisemitism would inevitably rise in the capital and across the country following the outbreak of war in the Middle East. He told Times Radio: ‘Londoners are feeling frightened for no other reason but they’re Jewish.’
It comes as police in Lancashire investigate a possible incident of Islamophobic hate after a pig’s head was left outside a former Methodist church that is set to be reopened as a mosque.
Inspector Claire Pearson, from the Pendle and Ribble Valley Neighbourhood Policing Team, said officers are carrying out house to house visits and CCTV checks following the horrific discovery. They are also calling on local butchers and abattoirs.
Ibrar Ahmed, from the Barnoldswick Islamic Centre, said ‘This incident is not aligned with the spirit of Barnoldswick, where Muslims have been an integral part of the community since the 1960s.
‘The Barnoldswick Islamic Centre remains committed to fostering peace and harmony, working alongside everyone in our town to promote understanding.’
It comes as police in Lancashire investigate a possible incident of Islamophobic hate after a pig’s head was left outside a former Methodist church that is set to be reopened as a mosque
Supporters of Israel gathered outside Downing Street yesterday to fly the country’s flag amid Hamas’ unprecedented assault
Attendees at the Downing Street vigil held up placards saying ‘I stand with Israel’
Greater Manchester has the largest Jewish population in the UK after London.
Yesterday, the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester said it was ‘concerned’ about videos of people celebrating Hamas atrocities against Israel in the streets.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has called for police to ‘use the full force of the law’ against displays of support for Hamas, which is a proscribed terror group.
Rivkah Brown, commissioning editor at Novara Media, wrote on X to call the first day of the bloody rampage ‘a day of celebration’.
She said on Saturday: ‘Today should be a day of celebration for supporters of democracy and human rights worldwide, as Gazans break out of their open-air prison and Hamas fighters cross into their colonisers’ territory.
READ MORE – Harrowing pictures show bruised and bloodied children fleeing from hellfire in Gaza and Israel
On Sunday, a woman called Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel ‘inspiring’ and ‘beautiful’ at a pro-Palestine protest in Brighton.
MailOnline later named her as Hanin Barghouti, an elected Women Students’ officer at the University of Sussex students’ union.
Meanwhile, the murders were applauded at a left wing event, called The World Transforms, on the sidelines of the Labour conference.
Clapping for the bloody violence broke out amongst audience members at a meeting to mark 75 years since the Nakba or ‘catastrophe’ that led to the creation of the Jewish state.
Yasmin Elsouda, an activist and member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, told the audience: ‘I’m honoured to be speaking at such an historic moment, certainly in my lifetime, in our struggle…’
The event is not officially linked to Labour but was created while Jeremy Corbyn was the party leader.
Rachel Riley, the Countdown presenter who is Jewish, posted a video on her X account, which showed a number of people celebrating the Hamas atrocity on Saturday night outside a café in Acton, West London.
She tweeted: ‘People have been brutally murdered and kidnapped and there are people in London dancing.’
Scotland Yard said yesterday that the force had been made aware of a number of incidents in the capital in connection with the conflict in Israel, with protests also planned in the coming days.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (right) attended Finchley United Synagogue in central London last night
The Palace of Westminster illuminated in the colours of the Israeli flag last night
A spokesman added: ‘We are aware of a number of incidents, including those that have been shared on social media, in relation to the ongoing conflict in Israel and the border with Gaza.
‘The Met has increased policing patrols across parts of London in order to provide a visible presence and reassurance to our communities.
‘We remain in contact with partners and community leaders to listen to any concerns.
‘Anyone who experiences threatening behaviour or is worried about their safety is urged to contact police.’
Ms Braverman said she had spoken to the Community Security Trust (CST) to ensure that the ‘the government is doing everything necessary for the protection of our Jewish communities.’
‘There must be zero tolerance for antisemitism or glorification of terrorism on the streets of Britain,’ she said.
‘I expect the police to use the full force of the law against displays of support for Hamas, other proscribed terrorist groups or attempts to intimidate British Jews.’
More than 1,000 Hamas gunmen streamed across the border from Gaza into Israel on Saturday, and began indiscriminately shooting civilians while taking others hostage
Palestinians watch a fire burn among the rubble of a damaged residential building following an Israeli airstrike today in Gaza City
The CST said last night: ‘We are already seeing incidents of racist antisemitism against Jewish people and property in response to the awful terror attack in Israel.
‘This disgraceful and cowardly abuse strips bare the deep hatred and extremism that is faced by both Jews and Israelis.
CST and our many partners will continue doing all in our power to protect British Jews.
‘These attempts to intimidate will not stop our community from leading its way of life. We thank the police, the government and other leading political figures for the strong support that they have shown.’
Last night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared his intention to obliterate Hamas, which he compared to ISIS.
Netanyahu, who first came to power in Israel in 1996, said Israel planned to deploy an ‘unprecedented force’ that would ‘reverberate for generations’.
‘We have only started striking Hamas,’ Netanyahu, 73, said in a nationally televised address late last night.
‘What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.
‘Hamas terrorists bound, burned and executed children. They are savages. Hamas is ISIS.’
Hamas terrorists have taken up to 150 people as hostages
Thousands of Hamas targets have been wiped out in brutal aerial bombing campaigns, Israeli defence officials claimed.
But harrowing clips circulating social media showed how the rockets and bombs also obliterated Palestinian residential blocks, killing hundreds of civilians.
Israel also ordered a ‘complete siege’ of Gaza, cutting off electricity, fuel and food for the 2.3million Palestinians who for the most part were already living in poverty.
The four-day-old war has already claimed at least 1,600 lives, as Israel saw gun battles in the streets of its own towns for the first time in decades and neighbourhoods in Gaza were reduced to rubble.
In a response to the aerial bombardment, Hamas warned late last night it would begin executing Israeli civilian captives.
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