The Rishi Sunak-led UK government has minced no words in its opposition to the pro-Palestinian march planned for 11th November, when the United Kingdom marks Armistice Day. Pro-Palestinian groups in London have decided to organise a march calling for a ceasefire in Gaza on Armistice Day, which commemorates the signing of the Armistice which brought an end to the First World War and remembers those who died in the war.
On 3rd November, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak underlined the potentially violent nature of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations, something that countries around the world have witnessed.
He said, “To plan protests on Armistice Day is provocative and disrespectful, and there is a clear and present risk that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be desecrated, something that would be an affront to the British public and the values we stand for.”
The UK PM and the chief of Metropolitan Police have been at loggerheads over the issue.
On 8th November, UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay said that it’s “provocative to have a protest like that on that day” even as he supported the right to protest. This was followed by an article written by Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Braverman categorically stated that while vigils held by the British Jewish community in London have been dignified, “it is the pro-Palestinian movement that has mobilised tens of thousands of angry demonstrators and marched them through London every weekend”.
“From the start, these events have been problematic, not just because of violence around the fringes but because of the highly offensive content of chants, posters and stickers. This is not a time for naiveté. We have seen with our own eyes that terrorists have been valorised, Israel has been demonised as Nazis and Jews have been threatened with further massacres,” Braverman wrote.
Braverman did not mince her words when objecting sternly to the planned pro-Palestinian protests. She wrote, “Now as we approach a particularly significant weekend in the life of our nation, one which calls for respect and commemoration, the hate marchers — a phrase I do not resile from — intend to use Armistice Day to parade through London in yet another show of strength.”
The Home Secretary also pointed that some of the organisers of the planned march have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas.
Braverman pointed out that there is a “perception that senior police officers play favourites when it comes to protesters”. She wrote, “Right-wing and nationalist protesters who engage in aggression are rightly met with a stern response yet pro-Palestinian mobs displaying almost identical behaviour are largely ignored, even when clearly breaking the law? I have spoken to serving and former police officers who have noted this double standard.”
Braverman also mentioned that football fans are policed more as compared to the “politically connected minority groups who are favoured by the left”. One of the possible reasons for this, she pointed out, could be the concerns among the police force about facing flak for taking action against such groups.
Braverman concluded her op-ed with what appeared to be both, a warning of sorts and a call to the police to display an “assertive and proactive approach to any displays of hate”.
“If the march goes ahead this weekend, the public will expect to see an assertive and proactive approach to any displays of hate, breaches of conditions and general disorder,” the Home Secretary wrote.
Notably, last month, Braverman sought answers from the chief of the Metropolitan police regarding the force’s decision not to arrest pro-Palestinian protesters calling for “jihad” against Israel. The Metropolitan Police had downplayed open calls for jihad which were raised by Hamas supporters in Central London during a protest on 21st October (Saturday).
Instead of taking cognisance of the matter, the UK’s Metropolitan Police came out in defence of the Islamists and said that calls for jihad against Israel had nothing to do with terrorism.
Meanwhile, the Met chief has said that there is no legal ground as yet to ban the pro-Palestinian march on 11th November.
Metropolitan police chief Sir Mark Rowley said, “If over the next few days the intelligence evolves further and we get to such a high threshold – and it’s only been done once in a decade where we need to say to the home secretary ‘we think we need to ban the march element’ – then of course we will do.”
He added that this is, however, a last resort which the force has not reached yet. “There will be a protest this weekend – the law provides no mechanism to ban a gathering, a static protest, a rally, anything like that… if the organisers want that, then it will happen.”
Moreover, UK PM Rishi Sunak has reportedly said that he will hold the Met police Chief “accountable” for allowing the demonstration on Armistice Day. This came after the UK PM held a meeting with the Met Chief to discuss the protest.
The UK security forces and local government agencies have often been criticised for not acting against radical Islamism for fear of being labelled racist and Islamophobic. The prevailing grooming gangs in the country are a case in point.
Interestingly, the Met police have given a green flag to the 11th November march despite having stated on 28th October that antisemitic hate crimes have seen a 14-fold increase ever since the 7th October attacks in Israel by Hamas terrorists.
On 31st October, a Palestine supporter in Birmingham threw a box full of rats painted in the colours of the Palestinian flag inside a McDonald’s outlet.
