London Gaza rally: Rishi Sunak vows to hold Met chief 'accountable' over march
London Gaza rally: Rishi Sunak vows to hold Met chief 'accountable' over march
Thousands of protesters are due to march through London calling for a ceasefire in Gaza on Armistice Day.
Rishi Sunak has said he will hold the Met Police chief "accountable" over a pro-Palestinian march set to take place this Saturday, on Armistice Day.
The prime minister has criticised the timing of the demonstration in London as "provocative and disrespectful".
Organisers insist their march will not go near commemorations and accuse the government of manufacturing a row.
Protests have been held in London, and other cities globally, each Saturday since the Israel-Gaza war began.
Ben Jamal, of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign which is behind the march, said he believed the government was manufacturing a row and using the Armistice Day angle to try to "delegitimise" them.
"There's something particularly askew with an argument that says a protest calling for a ceasefire is somehow inappropriate on Armistice Day," he told the BBC.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has accused the police of being more lax on left-wing protests than those organised by nationalists or right-wing activists.
The home secretary has voiced her opposition to pro-Palestinian protests in the past, calling them "hate marches" in an interview with Sky News.
Protest organiser Chris Nineham, from the Stop the War Coalition, said: "We do everything we can as stewards to make sure there is nothing antisemitic or calling for violence in our demonstrations. For us, this isn't about religion, it isn't about race."
The demonstration on 11 November is due to begin at 12:45, more than an hour after the traditional two-minute silence.
All this hysteria in the news about the protest has motivated me even MORE to join on Saturday!
I actually wasn't going to go, because it's an enormous pain for me to get in to London, but you know what, I'm tempted to go now.
And what will your sign read?
- „Stop firing rockets at civilians and hospitals in Israel“
- „release all hostages“
- „stop using civilians as human shields“
- „stop stealing fuel from hospitals“
- „do not criminalize homosexuals“
- „do not bake babies“
- „don’t rape“
Funny how "quit bombing refugee camps and 'safe' passage ways" or "end the apartheid state that encourages Hamas violence" or "stop the Palestinian genocide" or "stop stealing land and homes" are missing from your list, as is "Israel should stop funding Hamas".
Curuous that you don't seem to want to stop the causes, just the reactions to the decades of Israeli barbarity 🤔
thousands of dead civilians including children missing from your list, curious
While I agree with all of those things, I can only choose one thing. The protest is to call for a ceasefire on Gaza, so my sign will reflect that.
Out of interest, do you think Israel's response to the attack by Hamas is disproportionate?
As of today:
- approximately 10,000 fatalities in Palestine
- approximately 1,200 fatalities in Israel
The prime minister has criticised the timing of the demonstration in London as “provocative and disrespectful”.
If he thinks Protesting for a cease fire on Armistice day is disrespectful. Wait till he finds out what Armistice means.
"There's something particularly askew with an argument that says a protest calling for a ceasefire is somehow inappropriate on Armistice Day"
Ya think? Totally on brand for Sunak, Braverman and other genocide denying bigots, though 🤬
Calling for a literal armistice on armistice day. Whats next? Starting the new year on new years day?
Careful! That kind of thinking might lead to a competent government if it spreads too much!
Funny how the press banged on for months about Gordon Brown being unelected and having no mandate, whereas this out-of-touch sack of shit billionaire human-impersonator gets a free pass.
Rishi Sunak? Didn't his ultra-rich FIL promote a 70 hour work week?
Yeah. So I guess that old average about opposites attracting doesn't really work. His whole adopted family are as scummy is he is.
Rishi Sunak has morphed from one of the most useless prime ministers we've had in living memory. To the most hateful prime minister we've ever had in history.
It's impressive how he's managed to take his spineless attitude and somehow turn it into hate.
He's still a complete wet blanket underneath it all of course, this is all Cruella's fault, but he hasn't fired her he is allowing this and he is endorsing this behaviour.
Rishi Sunak is a pawn of the rich who will do anything to distract from the fact that he hates poor people and people who protest.
Well he has to because he hasn't got a clue how to do the job. Remember he lost the election to Truss.
He's what you get when you finish scraping the bottom of the barrel. He's the murky stain that's left behind. Somehow despite the practically subterranean bar he had to clear to be better than his two predecessors, he's managing to be even worse than expected.