Home > Global protests end in riot on London streets
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By Jeremy Watson
RIOT police had to be deployed last night as a protest outside the Israeli embassy in London over Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip erupted into violence.
In a day of global demonstrations over Israel’s military campaign against the Islamist Hamas movement, thousands of protestors gathered outside the embassy with some attempting to storm the Kensington compound.
As tensions mounted in the early evening, police officers came under fire from missiles. The barrage, including fireworks and bottles, continued despite a number of protesters being led away by the police, who armed themselves with riot shields.
Scotland Yard said that from around 6pm protestors at the front of the barrier line made repeated attempts to break through to the embassy and several arrests were made. As the situation grew more violent, more units of armoured riot police were mobilised and forcibly moved waves of protesters away from the embassy down Kensington high street.
Organisers of the demonstration said they would make an official complaint after claiming that riot police charged into people, injuring many.
Witnesses said a number of people, including children, were thrown to the ground during clashes in the underpass at Hyde Park at the end of a march.
Chris Nineham, an official of the Stop The War Coalition who has organised dozens of national demonstrations and rallies, said: "It was the most irresponsible police behaviour I have ever witnessed.
The police forced us to go down a tunnel where we were met by three or four ranks of riot officers who then charged at us at least three times using their riot sticks."
Respect MP George Galloway, who was caught up in the incident, said he and his daughter were thrown to the ground. "It was very frightening. The police trapped us in the tunnel and attacked us repeatedly."
Stephen Hodgkins, 38, from Battersea, who was among the crowd of around 100 in the underpass, said officers wielding batons made "two or three" charges at the crowd, leaving several people injured. "It was just shocking," he said.
But the Met defended its officers, saying: "Officers made one 10-metre advance into the crowd to regain control of the protest, using recognised and proportionate tactics." The spokeswoman said the advance was filmed by police evidence gatherers and a number of people, "including Mr Galloway", were "facilitated" through police lines for their safety.
Earlier, more than 5,000 demonstrators, including singer Annie Lennox, former model Bianca Jagger and comedian Alexei Sayle, marched on Trafalgar Square in London.
Hundreds threw shoes at Downing Street, inspired by the Iraqi journalist who showed the same traditional Muslim sign of disrespect to US President George Bush last month.
More protested in cities across Britain, including Glasgow and Edinburgh, all demanding an immediate halt to Israeli air attacks on the Palestinian enclave and Hamas, the radical group that runs the territory.
In Glasgow, Barrie Levine, from Scottish Jews for a Just Peace, said: "In common with a growing number of Jews in Israel and internationally, we condemn the air strikes by Israel on Gaza and the likelihood of a land assault."
Levine was one of up to 500 people who gathered in Glasgow’s Blythswood Square to protest. Police said around 600 protesters attended a similar event in Edinburgh’s Princes Street. Protests also took place in Bristol, Liverpool, Exeter, Norwich, Hull, Tunbridge Wells, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Swansea, York, Caernarfon, Bradford and Sheffield.
Mass demonstrations also took place in other major western capitals and across Muslim nations of the Middle East.
In Paris, police said 21,000 marched through the streets. Later, a small group of protesters burned Israeli flags, set fire to at least three cars and smashed windows in an area popular with shoppers.
In the Netherlands, thousands marched through Amsterdam. One banner declared: "Anne Frank is turning in her grave. Oh Israel!"