Protesters say Labour has blood on its hands outside party’s HQ
Demonstrators called for Labour to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for the UK to stop arming Israel.
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Your support makes all the difference.Pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanted “Labour Party blood on your hands” while protesting outside the party’s HQ in London to condemn its stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
On Friday morning, demonstrators at the protest, organised by London Palestine Action, chanted “Labour Party shame on you” and “no more money for Israel’s crimes”.
TFL buses, taxis and ordinary drivers beeped their horns in support of the demonstrators.
Protesters expressed disappointment that Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer failed to recognise “international war crimes committed by Israel”.
In an interview with LBC in the wake of Hamas launching a murderous assault on Israeli civilians, Sir Keir had appeared to suggest that Israel has “the right” to withhold energy and water from Gaza.
But Sir Keir argued on Friday that he had intended to say that Israel has the right to defend itself and retrieve the around 200 hostages being held “within international law”.
A number of Labour councillors have resigned over what they perceived as “horrifying” comments that he was “endorsing a war crime”.
Speaking to the PA news agency, Ezra, 30, from London, who is Jewish, accused Sir Keir of exploiting antisemitism for “personal and political gain”.
She said: “He has tried very hard recently to put out some statements to appease people but we see right through him.
“He can’t undo the damage he’s done already, he can’t undo the licence he has given Israel to commit war crimes and the damage he has done within the Jewish community.”
Shadia Zai, a 35-year-old member of London Palestine Action and a resident of Sir Keir’s constituency Holborn and St Pancras, criticised the “horrific rhetoric” of the Labour Party regarding the conflict.
“We’re really concerned that the leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer (and) David Lammy who is shadow foreign secretary have both sought to endorse and justify Israel’s military action,” she told PA.
“What we are saying is the Labour Party needs to be at the forefront… making calls for an immediate ceasefire, to stop the bombing and call for the UK to stop arming Israel.”
Ms Zai, a Palestinian who has family in the West Bank, said they were under threat from “Israeli settler violence”.
All protesters interviewed stated they had “lost confidence” in the Labour Party and would not vote for them in the upcoming general election.
Blk Moody, 29, from London, told PA: “I’ve always been with Labour but this is where I draw the line because at the moment Labour is the same as the Tories – there’s no difference between them.
“I won’t be voting for them (Labour) anymore, their hands are covered in blood and it is hiding behind antisemitism to justify genocide.”
Zad El Bacha, a 27-year-old from London, stated that she would only vote for Labour if the party changed its position on Israel and called for a ceasefire.
Protesters also held a placard labelled “from river to sea Palestine will be free,” a slogan that Home Secretary Suella Braverman said on social media was a “demand for the destruction of Israel” and a “staple of antisemitic discourse”.
Ezra said the slogan promotes anti-Zionism, not antisemitism.
She explained: “Anti-Zionism is a legitimate political position for anyone to hold and many Jewish people have always been anti-Zionist since the first conception of Zionism.”
Other pro-Palestinian protests took place across the country today, including Manchester, Brighton, Bristol, Leeds, Machynlleth, Bridgend, Oxford and Sheffield.