Hezbollah supporters call for Israel’s annihilation at London rally
A few hundred people marched down Regent Street, behind the Palestinian and Hezbollah terror flag, before staging a sit-down protest on Oxford Street.
Hezbollah and Palestine supporters staging a sit-down protest brought part of central London to a standstill on Sunday afternoon.
A few hundred people marched down Regent Street, behind the Palestinian and Hezbollah terror flag, before sitting down at the junction with Oxford Street shortly after 4.30pm on Sunday.
Many carried banners with messages including “Boycott Israel”, “Freedom for Palestine” and “Zionism = racism”.
The demonstration wound its way through the capital’s retail heart, which was busy with shoppers.
A man on a loudspeaker led the protesters in chants of “Free Palestine”.
One speaker blamed the devastating Grenfell Tower fire, which has left at least 58 people dead, on Israel supporters. Addressing the crowd at Grosvenor Square, he said: “Many innocents were murdered by Theresa May’s cronies – many of which are supporters of Zionist ideologies. Some of the biggest corporations who are supporting the Conservative Party are Zionists. They are responsible for the murder in Grenfell. The Zionist supporters of the Tory Party.”
Al Quds Day: "Zionist" corporations were responsible for #Grenfell pic.twitter.com/9ZuqZ8YnDb
— Zionist Federation (@ZionistFed) June 18, 2017
A counter protest, organised by Jewish groups including the Zionist Federation, was also held nearby, featuring speakers from the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council, Zionist Federation, and other communal groups.
Speaking to Jewish News after addressing the counter-demonstration in Grosvenor Square, Matthew Offord MP condemned the flying of Hezbollah flags in Central London.
He said: “There are Hezbollah flags being flown. When they were flown in 2015, outside Number 10, I spoke with the then Home Secretary who agreed with me, that as Hezbollah is proscribed under the Terrorism Act, they should not be doing so.
“The Police have a different legal opinion, and they feel that the political wing of Hezbollah is different from the paramilitary wing, and as such they allow them to do so.”.
Addressing what action he think can be taken, Offord, who was re-elected in Hendon two weeks ago, said: “I’m going to continue to press the new HS to have this proscribed under the terrorism act, so that Hezbollah flags, as with ISIS flags, should not be flown on the streets of London.”
Simon Johnson of the Jewish Leadership Council said they’d “already made this representation in our annual meetings with the Prime Minister, for each of the last two years” with regards to the flying of Hezbollah flags.
He added: “I am convinced we’ve been caught in a bit of a civil service paralysis. It’s been kicked around from department to department. Now that we’ve suffered terrible terrorist outrages in this country – surely now is the time to be able to ban the flag of Hezbollah.
“This is a terrorist flag. Hezbollah are a terrorist organisation. There is enough evidence of it and it really is time [to ban it].”
He welcomed Matthew Offord’s support to take more action, before saying: “We’re going to make these steps formally to the Prime Minister, the Home Office and the Foreign Office”.
In the lead up to Al Quds Day, more than 15,000 petitioned Sadiq Khan, urging him to stop the march from taking place. Asked whether the Mayor of London had done enough, Johnson said: “It’s not his remit [to ban it], but it is in his remit to work with the Metropolitan Police to ban marches like this. I think his response to this has been disappointing. I think he could have taken more action on this. They [the Met Police] didn’t need to agree to a march. it could have been a static demonstration. That would have been perfectly proper and appropriate, and a guarantee of free speech for all sides. The fact they agreed for it to be a march was an easy way out for them.”
#AlQudsDay march 2017
Posted by The Jewish News on Monday, 19 June 2017
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
