NEARLY 500 people were arrested in Trafalgar Square in central London on Saturday for holding up posters declaring: ‘I oppose Genocide – I support Palestine Action’.
Organisers Defend Our Juries said around 1,000 took part in the demonstration, with the Metropolitian Police saying that 488 protesters were arrested, with the youngest person held being 18 and the oldest 89.
Police brutally dragged off the protesters and bundled them into dozens of vans around the square, from where they were driven off to police stations and charged.
Protesters spoke to News Line. Widyan Mohammed said: ‘I wish the genocide will end now. Tony Blair is responsible for killing one million Iraqis. He has accomplished war crimes. It worries me. It’s horrendous.
‘The police are out here picking up descendants of holocaust survivors instead of protecting the Jewish community. There has always been peaceful protest in the UK. Palestine Action just did graffiti to a few planes bound for Gaza. It’s a travesty. Shame on Keir Starmer. Shame on the Labour government.’
Ulus Akka, a university student, said: ‘The deal involves putting Tony Blair, a war criminal in charge of the Gaza Strip, which has been occupied since 1948. It is unimaginable.’
Farah, who works for a charity, said: ‘I’ve been supporting Palestine for a long time. Seeing how many people are involved now is amazing. Everything that is happening in Palestine is horrific. Loads of people have woken up.’
Bisan, a lecturer from the Midlands, said: ‘I am a UCU member. The universities are complicit in this genocide. They have a strategic plan with government to increase defence research and arms sales to genocidal regimes like Israel.
‘As university workers we are opposed to the militarisation of our welfare state. We call on rank-and-file members to put pressure on the union leadership or to self-organise as in Italy and Greece. The people of Palestine have been calling for union solidarity for decades. For example, there have been calls on unions since 2003 to fight for BDS (Boycott and Divestment), and they should have acted then.’
Tabs, from Muslim Students for Palestine, said: ‘I think the British government is complicit with genocide. It provides technical and military support to Israel and continues to do so. The ICC (International Criminal Court) has made clear there is a genocide.
‘They are manufacturing political consent, by oppressing those who oppose their foreign policy. Today this is what we’re seeing. They are arresting people who oppose genocide.’
Police to get new powers to ban protests
POLICE forces will be granted new powers to ban ‘repeat protests’, powers which could be rushed in before the second anniversary of the commencement of the Gaza genocide demonstration this Saturday, Labour Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced yesterday (see advert this page).
Senior officers will be able to consider the ‘cumulative impact’ of previous protests, she said, which could mean they instruct organisers to hold events elsewhere if a site has seen repeated demonstrations.
Mahmood claimed to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that the move was not a ban on protests but ‘about restrictions and conditions’, with the new powers ‘brought forward as soon as possible’.
Currently, for police to ban a march entirely, there needs to be ‘a risk of serious public disorder’.
Mahmood claimed to be ‘very worried about the state of community relations in our country,’ adding: ‘I know I, as the Home Secretary, have a responsibility to think about the action the government can take to strengthen our communities, to make sure people are well-integrated into our society.’
The Home Secretary will carry out a review of current protest legislation to ‘ensure powers are sufficient and being applied consistently’, the government said, adding: ‘This will include powers to ban protests outright.’
Amnesty International responded: ‘This is a reheat of a move by the previous Conservative government that had been found unlawful by the courts.’
