Met Police chief ‘shocked’ by deliberate Palestine Motion protest in London

[ad_1] The Metropolitan Police chief has mentioned he's "shocked and pissed off" at a deliberate protest in help of Palestine Motion in London on Monday.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley mentioned whereas the precise to protest is important, "actions in help of such a bunch transcend what most would see as reliable 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 navy planes with pink 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 varied different pro-Palestinian teams, the Cease the Conflict Coalition, Cage and Muslim Engagement and Improvement (MEND).

Describing Palestine Motion as a "organised extremist legal group", Sir Mark mentioned that till the group is proscribed, the Met had no authorized energy to forestall the protest happening.

"We do, nevertheless, have the ability to impose situations on it to forestall dysfunction, injury, and critical disruption to the neighborhood," he added, saying "breaches of the regulation will likely be handled robustly."

The Met mentioned it will launch situations for the protest "as soon as they've been confirmed".

In an earlier publish on social media, Palestine Motion mentioned "the political institution rush to name us 'terrorists', while they enact the worst crimes towards humanity".

One of many group's members, Saeed Taji Farouky, told the BBC on Saturday that authorities plans to proscribe the group had been "absurd".

He mentioned the transfer "rips aside the very primary ideas of British democracy and the rule of regulation", and added: "It is one thing everybody ought to 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 accountability in Might for the daubing of a US navy airplane in Eire.

Mr Farouky mentioned the group's "complete motive for being is to interrupt the fabric provide chain to genocide" and mentioned 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 Dwelling Secretary Suella Braverman, who mentioned the transfer to ban the group was "completely the proper choice".

Others have reacted critically, together with Labour MP Zarah Sultana, who recalled protests towards the 2003 conflict in Iraq: "1,000,000 individuals marched towards the unlawful conflict in Iraq they usually had been proper. Now the identical script is taking part in out once more."

Amnesty Worldwide UK mentioned 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 navy marketing campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the cross-border assault on 7 October 2023, during which about 1,200 individuals had been killed and 251 others had been taken hostage.

Greater than 55,000 individuals have been killed in Gaza since then, together with greater than 15,000 kids, in keeping with the territory's Hamas-run well being ministry.