Arrests in London
Nationalists disrupt World War commemorations
November 11, 2023, 2:45 p.m
Armistice Day in the First World War is an important holiday in Britain. In London there are clashes between the police and nationalists. The background is a planned large-scale pro-Palestinian demonstration.
Great Britain remembered the fallen soldiers of the world wars with two minutes of silence. Hundreds gathered at the Cenotaph war memorial in the center of the British capital. Shortly before the start of a large pro-Palestinian demonstration, clashes broke out between the police and British nationalists near the Cenotaph. Several people were arrested.
Almost 2,000 officers were deployed in the city. Commentators accused conservative Interior Minister Suella Braverman of inciting nationalist groups. The right-wing politician had criticized the fact that the police had not banned the planned large-scale pro-Palestinian rally, to which the organizers expected around 500,000 participants. The minister spoke of a “hate march”.
Braverman accused the police of ignoring crimes committed by left-wing or pro-Palestinian demonstrators. There were then calls within her own party that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should fire the 43-year-old.
Traditionally, Armistice Day, on the anniversary of the First World War Armistice in 1918, is one of the most important days of commemoration in the United Kingdom. Sunak had called the pro-Palestinian rally that day “disrespectful”.