UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman calls pro-Palestine rallies 'hate marches'

LONDON: UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman has called pro-Palestine rallies "hate marches" and added that the protests that took place against Israel's attacks on Gaza witnessed a "large number of bad actors who are deliberately operating beneath the criminal threshold," Anadolu Agency reported.

Braverman made the remarks after an emergency cabinet meeting chaired by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. She called for more efforts from law enforcement agencies, especially the Metropolitan Police and other regional forces to address the issue of antisemitism, according to Anadolu Agency report.

She said that they have witnessed tens of thousands of people taking to the streets after Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7.

She said, "We've seen now tens of thousands of people take to the streets following the massacre of Jewish people - the single largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, chanting for the erasure of Israel from the map," Anadolu Agency reported. She asserted, "To my mind, there is only one way to describe those marches - they are hate marches."

In response to a question regarding the chant "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," and whether she considered it antisemitic, Braverman said the police operate independently. However, Braverman emphasised that "The police must take a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism."

On October 10, Braverman issued a warning to police chiefs for displaying Palestinian flags on the streets of the UK. She stated that waving the flag "may not be legitimate" if it is viewed as a show of support for terrorism, according to Anadolu Agency report.

Suella Braverman even provided examples of protest actions that she believed could potentially be considered violations of public order, including targeting Jewish neighbourhoods, waving pro-Palestinian or pro-Hamas symbols, and chanting slogans that could be interpreted as anti-Israeli.

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters have marched in London and across the UK, calling for an end to Israel's attacks on Hamas. Notably, Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas after the latter launched an attack on the former on October 7.

On October 24, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Hamas terrorists care more about their paymasters in Iran than the children they hide behind, adding that Hamas was "not only a threat to Israel but to many others across the region".

Taking to his official handle on X, Sunak shared a personalised video message saying, "We will work together with the international partners to bring renewed energy and creativity to this effort." "We must never lose sight of how essential the two-state solution is. So we'll work together with our international partners to bring renewed energy and creativity to this effort," the UK PM said.

Further, he said that Britain would work with other world powers to establish more effective governance for Palestinian territories in Gaza and the West Bank."It would also mean challenging actions that undercut legitimate aspirations for Palestinian statehood,"

PM Sunak added. "Let me be clear, there is no scenario where Hamas can be allowed to control Gaza or any part of the Palestinian territories. Hamas is not only a threat to Israel but to many others across the region," the UK PM added. Moreover, he stressed that the leaders he met agreed that this was a watershed moment."It's time to set the region on a better path," he added.