Nigel Farage has said “frightening” pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London are a “show of support of barbarous actions in Israel”.
The ex-Brexit Party and UKIP leader was commenting on footage shot in Kensington, West London last night, where hundreds gathered outside the Israeli embassy, many waving placards and some letting off fireworks. Three were arrested with the embassy boarded up beforehand as a precaution.
Mr Farage shared footage from the scene, commenting on X, formerly Twitter: “This is very frightening.
“Support for the barbarous actions in Israel on the streets of London tonight.”
He subsequently shared a brief clip of a man at the scene who branded Israel a “terrorist state” and appeared to smile beneath his balaclava helmet when asked for his opinion on the deaths of at least 700 Israeli citizens killed by Hamas fighters on Saturday.
Mr Farage added: “Support for the mass murder of Israelis on the streets of London tonight?
“We are allowing our country and its values to be destroyed.
“Police stand by and do nothing.”
A Met Police statement issued today said: “Ahead of the protests and vigils we liaised with the organisers to ensure our policing plan was appropriate – balancing the right to lawful protest against any disruption to Londoners, while ensuring all communities are supported and reassured.
“UK policing has an obligation to uphold the right to protest.
“However we are clear that where any activity crosses into criminality we will, and have, taken action.”
The statement added: “Three arrests have been made for assault on an emergency worker, racially motivated criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon. In addition, further active arrest enquiries are underway.
“During the protests in Kensington High Street a number of individuals were observed engaging in criminal damage of a building. We have gathered evidence and active enquiries are under way to identity, locate and arrests those suspected of being involved.”
As well as the Israeli casualties, at least 400 people in Gaza are understood to have died as a result of airstrikes ordered by Benjamin Netanyahu, while 1,500 Hamas fighters are thought to have been killed in Israel itself.
Speaking today, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly encouraged Palestine supporters to “pause” before joining further protests.
He told Sky News: “There is no need, there is no necessity for people to come out. It causes distress.
“This is a difficult, delicate situation.”
He said the protests were causing concern in the Jewish community, “who have often been on the receiving end of prejudice and threats of violence”.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign, one of the groups behind the demonstration, said in a statement of its own: “An offensive launched from Gaza can only be understood in the context of Israel’s ongoing military occupation and colonisation of Palestinian land, and imposition of a system of oppression that meets the legal definition of apartheid, which under international law constitutes a crime against humanity.”
The statement added: “Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel is now at war with Palestinians, but the reality is that Israel has been waging a decades-long war, enacted to enforce a system of occupation, apartheid and colonisation.
“The immediate context of the attack from Gaza is the intensification of violence by Israel since the election of the most far-right extremist government in its history, elected on a platform of proceeding with the effective annexation of the West Bank.”
