Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest outside the gates of Downing Street in London yesterday.
Agencies/London
Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators clashed outside British Prime Minister David Cameron’s London residence yesterday ahead of a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Police officers separated the two groups and took away at least two protesters following minor scuffles and chanting by both sides.
Around 400 pro-Palestinian activists gathered outside Downing Street to protest Netanyahu’s visit.
“Arrest Netanyahu” and “war criminal” they chanted, some holding up posters calling for an end to the blockade on Gaza as well as images of the Israeli leader plastered with the words “child killer”.
Others waved flags, including at least two from Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah movement.
Facing them were around 100 pro-Israeli demonstrators, many waving the Israeli flag.
Police would not confirm how many protesters had been arrested.
More than 108,000 people have signed a petition urging Netanyahu’s arrest for war crimes, enough for the issue to be considered for debate in Britain’s parliament.
Israel’s embassy in London called the latest petition a “meaningless publicity stunt”.
Last summer, Israel and Hamas fought a deadly 50-day war in Gaza which left more than 2,251 Palestinians dead, most of them civilians, and 73 on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.
Britain is pushing for a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and “will reinforce this message to Mr Netanyahu during his visit”, according to an official response to the petition.
Britain is one of a number of European countries which have been pushing for the separate labelling of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu and Cameron are scheduled to hold formal talks early today.
The two leaders will discuss “diplomatic, strategic and bilateral issues, as well as joint challenges in the fields of security, economics and cyber [security]”, according to Netanyahu’s office.
Leaders of four large trade unions and three British lawmakers voiced opposition to the visit in a letter published in the Guardian on Monday. It stressed that Netanyahu “must bear responsibility for war crimes identified by the UN human rights council in its investigation into Israel’s 2014 assault on Gaza”.
