With chants, speeches and banner-waving, pro-Palestine protesters lambasted the UK government’s Middle East policies outside the Royal Albert Hall in London, where a “celebration” of the centenary of the Balfour Declaration was being held.
As the UK’s International Development Secretary Priti Patel finds herself in hot water over an unofficial trip to Israel last summer, the British government’s historic support of the Jewish state was the subject of much criticism from protesters at the demonstration on Tuesday evening.
Lara Jamil, who attended the protest with the Revolutionary Communist Group said, “Britain has been the cause of a catastrophe for the Palestinian people for 100 years now and we should say no to it,”
The rally outside Royal Albert Hall was in protest against a concert celebrating the centenary of the the Balfour Declaration. The 67-word statement issued in 1917 lent official British support to the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Damian, a lorry driver and pro-Palestine activist said, “People have come to celebrate the dispossession of another people’s lands, “They’re going to be in there singing, dancing, drinking wine,” he added, shaking his head.
Wearing traditional keffiyeh scarfs and waving flags, demonstrators chanted into bullhorns under the watchful eye of a dozen police officers, some of whom took pictures of the demonstrators.
Protester Jillian Brown said that the British government should pressure Israel to stop human rights abuses in Palestine. The public should hold the UK government responsible, she added, and “know where their MPs are and what they’re doing.” The, reference, she clarified, centered on Patel, who is facing calls to resign after it emerged this week that she had met with high-ranking officials on an undisclosed trip to Israel.
Many of the pro-Israel protesters said they supported a two-state solution. “I want a Jewish state with security and I want to see a Palestinian state as well, without violence,” said Sue Hadden. The Balfour Declaration, she said, was the first step toward Jewish self-determination. “I think it’s really important to celebrate that.”
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