Riot police called out in London as protest ends in skirmishes

[IndianaGreen]

One of the signs: "Israel = terrorists"

Riot police called out in London as protest ends in skirmishes

By Emily Dugan, Kaarina Miles and Richard Osley
Sunday, 4 January 2009

Riot police were dispatched to the Israeli embassy in London last night as a day of protests across Europe degenerated into ugly skirmishes.

In London Israeli flags were set ablaze and surging crowds were penned back by police with shields and batons. Some protesters were in tears, claiming they were being stopped from leaving peacefully, and organisers said they would complain about police heavy-handedness. Others, growing more aggressive as news of Israel's ground invasion spread, threw missiles while police tried to drive them back. Late into the evening, several hundred were still staring down officers outside the embassy.

The London ambulance service said it had helped one man with a head injury and others with minor bruises after sending a team of 25 to the scene.

Tens of thousands initially took to the streets, even as Israeli forces were firing shells from the border of Gaza. In London, where the largest rally was held, Trafalgar Square turned to a sea of black, white, red and green – Palestinian national colours – as what organisers claimed were up to 55,000 people showed up in the largest British demonstration for the Palestinian cause. Police claimed the size of the protest was far lower.

In the crowd was the singer Annie Lennox, the comedian Alexei Sayle, Tony Benn and George Galloway. Lennox told the crowd: "We are looking at a huge human rights tragedy in front of us. The idea of an air assault combined with a ground war in such a tightly packed area as Gaza is unimaginable. It will be a bloodbath. Hopefully now we will see dialogue, dialogue, dialogue."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/riot-police-called-out-in-london-as-protest-ends-in-skirmishes-1224474.html

[Eryemil]

1. Yet one more reason for Britain to tighten its borders

[LeftishBrit]

2. ? Do you honestly think that all the protesters were foreigners or recent immigrants?

Quite a non sequitur if you ask me.

In any case, Trafalgar Square has been a frequent venue for demonstrations and political protests for generations, sometimes ending in skirmishes. It's an old British tradition.

[Alamuti Lotus]

3. Definitely

Keep those foreigners like George Galloway (damn Scots) and Anne Lennox (damn whateversheis) back in the ... aw hell, can't keep a straight face even while typing.

[Scurrilous]

4. Times Square Rally Protests Fighting in Gaza

<snip>

"Anger over the Israeli assault on Gaza spilled into Times Square on Saturday, as hundreds of protesters condemned the attacks in a demonstration that stretched four blocks and clogged much of the city’s central tourist district for several hours.

The protest came as Israeli troops began a ground incursion into the Hamas-controlled territory in what officials described as an effort to end Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel. The land campaign followed eight days of Israeli airstrikes that have killed more than 430 Palestinians, many of them civilians.

News of the escalation came midway through the demonstration and cast a pall over the crowd as it was announced over loudspeakers and crept across the news tickers nearby. But many protesters said they were not surprised, and some sounded a defiant note.

“As organized as the Palestinian community is here in the United States, we already knew this was going to happen, and I think the Palestinian people in Gaza have expected it,” said Linda Sarsour, 28, a Palestinian-American social worker from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, home to one of the country’s oldest Arab communities. “Now it’s time for Israel to come in and face the people on the ground. It’s all-out war now, and we’ll see what happens.”

Demonstrators waved signs that read “Stop Massacres in Gaza” and “End the Siege.” Speakers led the crowd in chants of “Free, free Palestine.” The protest was made up predominantly of people of Middle Eastern or Arab descent, but also included Jewish groups, students and others who support an independent Palestinian state. Many, whether Palestinian or not, wore black-and-white kaffiyehs, the traditional Palestinian scarf, and waved Palestinian flags."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/nyregion/04march.html?em

[Scurrilous]

5. Emotions on Gaza run hot in S. Fla.

<snip>

"Taunts, jeers, vulgar gestures and curse words filled the air Sunday afternoon as supporters of both sides in the Gaza conflict waged dueling protests outside the Israeli consulate in downtown Miami.

The crowd swelled to more than 1,000 people lining both sides of Biscayne Boulevard, brandishing Palestinian and Israeli flags. At times, rocks and mostly full water bottles sailed across the four-lane street.

The chants from supporters of Israel: ''No mas, Hamas'' and "There is no Palestine.''

From the supporters of the Palestinians: ''Re-free Palestine'' and "Occupation is a crime.''

From the pro-Israeli side: ''Bomb, bomb Palestine!'' and, from a few, "Go back to Israel so we can shoot you!''

From the pro-Palestinian side: "Monkeys and pigs!''

Twelve people were arrested, mostly for misdemeanors but a few on felony charges, said Miami police spokeswoman Kenia Alfonso."

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