Nine arrested during London protest demanding ban on weapons sales to Israel

Workers for a Free Palestine accuse Foreign Secretary David Lammy of dragging his feet after he said he will assess the issue with ‘full accountability and transparency’

Workers and trade unionists from Workers for a Free Palestine blockade the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) during an anti-Israel protest calling for the UK to cease the sale of arms to Israel, in central London, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Workers and trade unionists from Workers for a Free Palestine blockade the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) during an anti-Israel protest calling for the UK to cease the sale of arms to Israel, in central London, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

LONDON — British police on Wednesday arrested nine people during a protest against arms exports to Israel that briefly blocked the street outside the foreign ministry, highlighting pressure on the new Labour government over its stance on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Anti-Israel protesters in Britain have been campaigning for a government ban on arms sales to the country in light of its war against Hamas in Gaza, which broke out with the terror group’s invasion and massacre in southern Israel on October 7.

Last week new Foreign Minister David Lammy, who has said he wants a balanced position on Israel and Gaza, said a blanket ban on arms exports to Israel would not be right, but he would follow a quasi-judicial process in assessing whether sales of offensive weapons that could be used in Gaza could proceed.

London’s Metropolitan Police said protesters arrived outside Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and blocked pedestrian and vehicle access. Police then said the protest could only continue if it left the central arch of the street clear.

“When the group failed to comply with the conditions, officers intervened and made nine arrests, quickly restoring access,” a Met Police spokesperson said.

Pictures shared online showed the protesters blocking the central arch with a large banner reading “Genocide Made in Britain.”

While in opposition, Lammy said earlier this year that the government should suspend the sale of UK arms if there were a clear risk they might be used in a serious breach of humanitarian law.

Now in government, he said last week that he had requested an assessment of the legal situation on his first day in office, and hoped to be able to communicate any decisions with “full accountability and transparency.”

Labour was elected with a huge majority earlier this month but lost some seats to anti-Israel candidates.

Campaign group Workers for a Free Palestine, which organized Wednesday’s protest, said that was a sign the government should take a stronger stance on restricting arms sales and called on Lammy to “practice what he preached in opposition.”

Speaking to the UK’s The Guardian, an unnamed protester said it was “clear after a fortnight that the government could have acted by now, but is instead prevaricating as hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza die.”

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 39,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.

In total, some 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas onslaught in southern Israel, the majority of them civilians, and 251 were seized as hostages.

It is believed that 116 of the hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 44 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip of their own accord in 2014, and the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in 2014.

While the UK’s Conservative government was a strong supporter of Israel’s right to defend itself following the October 7 terror onslaught, Reuters found in June that the value of Britain’s approvals of new arms licenses dropped sharply after the start of the war, with the value of permits granted for the sale of military equipment to its ally falling by more than 95% to a 13-year low.

Labour has yet to reverse any major policy regarding Israel that had been implemented by the Conservative government, with the exception of restoring funding to UNRWA.

The UK halted funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees back in January, following accusations by Israel that some agency staff were involved in Hamas’s October 7 attack and many more had ties to terror groups.

Lammy informed Parliament of the decision last Friday, and said he was reassured that the agency, which provides education, health and other services to millions of Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere, had taken steps to ensure it has the “highest standards of neutrality,” including improving vetting.

Describing UNRWA as the backbone of Gaza’s aid operations, he said the UK would provide 21 million pounds ($27 million) in new funding to the agency.

Most Popular
read more: