UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman has called
pro-Palestine rallies “hate marches” and added that the protests that took
place against Israel’s attacks on Gaza witnessed a “large number of bad actors
who are deliberately operating beneath the criminal threshold,” reported Anadolu
Agency.
Braverman made the remarks after an emergency cabinet
meeting chaired by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
She called for more efforts from law enforcement
agencies, especially the Metropolitan Police and other regional forces to
address the issue of antisemitism, as per Anadolu Agency report.
Suella said, “We’ve seen now tens of thousands of
people take to the streets following the massacre of Jewish people – the single
largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, chanting for the erasure of
Israel from the map.”
She asserted, “To my mind, there is only one way to
describe those marches – they are hate marches.”
In response to a question regarding the chant “from
the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and whether she considered it
antisemitic, Braverman said the police operate independently. However,
Braverman emphasised that “the police must take a zero-tolerance approach to
antisemitism.”
On October 10, Braverman issued a warning to police
chiefs for displaying Palestinian flags on the streets of UK. She stated that
waving the flag “may not be legitimate” if it is viewed as a show of support
for terrorism, according to Anadolu Agency report.
Suella Braverman even provided examples of protest
actions that she believed could potentially be considered violations of public
order, including targeting Jewish neighbourhoods, waving pro-Palestinian or
pro-Hamas symbols, and chanting slogans that could be interpreted as
anti-Israeli.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters have marched
in London and across UK, calling for an end to Israel’s attacks on Hamas.
Notably, Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas after the latter
launched an attack on the former on October 7.
On October 24, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said
Hamas terrorists care more about their paymasters in Iran than the children
they hide behind, adding that Hamas was “not only a threat to Israel but to
many others across the region”.
Taking to his official handle on X, Sunak shared a
personalised video message saying, “We will work together with the
international partners to bring renewed energy and creativity to this effort.”
“We must never lose sight of how essential the two-State
solution is. So, we’ll work together with our international partners to bring
renewed energy and creativity to this effort,” said the UK PM.
Further, he said Britain would work with other world
powers to establish more effective governance for Palestinian territories in
Gaza and the West Bank.
“It would also mean challenging actions that undercut
legitimate aspirations for Palestinian statehood,” PM Sunak added.
“Let me be clear, there is no scenario where Hamas can
be allowed to control Gaza or any part of the Palestinian territories. Hamas is
not only a threat to Israel but to many others across the region,” the UK PM
added.
Moreover, he stressed that the leaders he met agreed
that this was a watershed moment. “It’s time to set the region on a better
path,” he added.
ANI
