A brave counter-protester who held up a ‘Hamas are terrorists’ sign in the middle of a huge pro-Palestine rally in London was dragged to the ground and arrested by mulitple police officers.
Footage of the incident showed campaigner Niyak Ghorbani, 37, unfurling the banner against the terrorist group in the middle of a sea of pro-Palestine marchers in the centre of the capital.
Several protesters appear to react angrily to Mr Ghorbani, who has protested against Hamas before during Palestine marches, and a bunch of Metropolitan Police officers charge into the crowd.
As Mr Ghorbani was physically held he said “shame on you” and protested: “I wrote down Hamas is a terrorist organisation, but they arrested me”.
A Met Police statement later said he was “de-arrested” following the incident and that officers intervened because of a suspected “breach of the peace”.
A Met Police statement posted on X said: “A video has been posted on X alleging officers arrested a man for having an anti-Hamas placard.
“This isn’t accurate. He was arrested after an altercation was ongoing, and officers intervened to prevent a breach of the peace. He was arrested for assault.
“Officers then fully reviewed footage provided of the incident, and he was later de-arrested. The arrest was not made in relation to the placard.”
Thousands of pro-Palestine supporters marched in central London on Saturday calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) organised the protest, following the Hamas terror attacks on southern Israel on October 7 in which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 kidnapped before Israel retaliated with months of attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing and wounding thousands.
Singer Charlotte Church joined protesters at the front of the march, and said she joined the protest to “show solidarity with the people of Palestine for all that they are suffering through”.
A counter-protest to the pro-Palestine marches was held in Victoria, central London, on Saturday afternoon and organiser Itai Galmudy said they were “here to exercise our democratic right of making our voices heard” and that “Jews are not afraid and we’ve had enough of those anti-Israeli hate marches”.
The Metropolitan Police said there was no significant public order disturbance at any protest in London on Saturday, and there had been five arrests, including a woman for holding an offensive placard and two men for chanting offensive slogans.
One man was arrested for assault, and another under the Public Order Act who was seen carrying a shield and wearing a helmet.
The force said more than 2,300 officers policed 11 major events on Saturday, including eight football matches and an international rugby fixture, and 500 officers from outside the Met assisted on mutual aid.
