Met Police chief ‘shocked’ by deliberate Palestine Motion protest in London
The Metropolitan Police chief has stated he’s “shocked and annoyed” at a deliberate protest in help of Palestine Motion in London on Monday.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley stated whereas the fitting to protest is important, “actions in help of such a bunch transcend what most would see as professional protest”.
It comes as the house secretary is known to be getting ready a written assertion to place earlier than Parliament on Monday to proscribe the group, successfully branding it a terrorist organisation.
On Friday, Palestine Motion activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and sprayed two army planes with crimson paint in protest of the UK’s help of Israel over the conflict in Gaza.
The deliberate protest in central London is supported by 35 teams together with numerous different pro-Palestinian teams, the Cease the Battle Coalition, Cage and Muslim Engagement and Growth (MEND).
Describing Palestine Motion as an “organised extremist legal group,” Sir Mark stated that till the group is proscribed, the Met had no authorized energy to forestall the protest going down.
“We do, nevertheless, have the ability to impose circumstances on it to forestall dysfunction, harm, and critical disruption to the group,” he added, saying “breaches of the legislation might be handled robustly”.
The Met stated it will launch circumstances for the protest “as soon as they’ve been confirmed”.
In an earlier put up on social media, Palestine Motion stated “the political institution rush to name us ‘terrorists’, while they enact the worst crimes in opposition to humanity”.
One of many group’s members, Saeed Taji Farouky, advised the BBC on Saturday that authorities plans to proscribe the group have been “absurd”.
He stated the transfer “rips aside the very primary ideas of British democracy and the rule of legislation” and added: “It is one thing everybody must be terrified about.”
Palestine Motion has engaged in actions which have predominantly focused arms corporations for the reason that begin of the present conflict in Gaza, with the group claiming duty in Might for the daubing of a US army aircraft in Eire.
Mr Farouky stated the group’s “entire purpose for being is to interrupt the fabric provide chain to genocide” and stated Friday’s incident was an “escalation in ways as a result of the genocide has escalated”.
Israel has strongly denied allegations of genocide regarding the continuing conflict in Gaza.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the incident at RAF Brize Norton as “disgraceful”. Counter-terrorism police are investigating the break in to the bottom.
The transfer to ban Palestine Motion was welcomed by some in Westminster, together with former Residence Secretary Suella Braverman, who stated the transfer to ban the group was “completely the right resolution”.
Others have reacted critically, together with Labour MP Zarah Sultana, who recalled protests in opposition to the 2003 conflict in Iraq: “1,000,000 folks marched in opposition to the unlawful conflict in Iraq and so they have been proper. Now the identical script is enjoying out once more.”
Amnesty Worldwide UK stated on Friday that it was “deeply involved at the usage of counter terrorism powers to focus on protests”.
Common protests associated to the conflict in Gaza have been held in London since Israel started a army marketing campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the cross-border assault on 7 October 2023, through which about 1,200 folks have been killed and 251 others have been taken hostage.
Greater than 55,000 folks have been killed in Gaza since then, together with greater than 15,000 kids, in line with the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry.
