Armistice Day was taking place in London yesterday, along with this occurred clashes between police and far-right protestors gathered to oppose pro-Palestine demonstrations.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the violence at the Cenotaph war memorial and also lashed out at “Hamas sympathisers” who joined the larger rally by “singing anti-Semitic chants and brandishing pro-Hamas signs and clothing on today’s protest.”
Police have already issued a statement saying that 126 people have been arrested as a result of yesterday’s event, most of them right-wingers who were part of a group of several hundred that police said included football hooligans.
The extreme violence from the right-wing protesters towards the police today was extraordinary and deeply concerning, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said, adding that a knife and knuckleduster were found during searches.
What is also notable, however, is that there was no physical violence at the much larger pro-Palestinian rally. There was only an incident centred on 150 people with covered faces who set off fireworks, causing them to hit police officers in the face, resulting in arrests.
Rioting amidst all this was expected from both pro-Palestinian organizations and dissenters to the rally. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reacted to yesterday’s incidents this way: “All criminality must be met with the full and swift force of the law,” he said in a statement late on Saturday, adding “that is what I told the Met Police Commissioner on Wednesday – that is what they are accountable for and that is what I expect.”
Clashes between police and right-wing protesters continued throughout the day. Police said more than 300,000 people turned out for the Palestinian rally, while organisers put the figure at 800,000.
Soon after the conflict erupted in early October, Western governments and its citizens actively support and sympathise with Israel. Britain – since the beginning of the conflict between Hamas and Israel – was a country that treated the conflict in the same way, understanding and accepting Palestinian suffering. The unilateral support did not last long, as the Israeli forces’ response also provoked anger, with weekly protests in London demanding a ceasefire.
In addition to London and Britain as a whole, about 21,000 people took part in a pro-Palestinian rally in Brussels on Saturday, and in Paris, MPs from left-wing parties were among 16,000 demonstrators chanting the same ceasefire slogans.
