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Rishi Sunak's tough ‘stamp it out’ remarks on some pro-Palestinian marches
Israel-Hamas War: Rishi Sunak said, “There is no place in our society for anti-Semitism and we will do everything we can to stamp it out.”
British prime minister Rishi Sunak condemned some incidents at pro-Palestinian marches in Britain as "simply not acceptable" after police made several arrests.
"There is no place in our society for anti-Semitism and we will do everything we can to stamp it out. And where it happens, it will be met with the full force of the law," Rishi Sunak said during a visit to a Jewish school in London. The police said that 15 people were arrested at Saturday's pro-Palestinian protest in central London. Three men were subsequently charged with committing crimes, including a 68-year-old man suspected of making racist comments.
"They've made several arrests but they're also now reviewing footage of some of the things that many people would have seen that are just simply not acceptable, and where they can they will be able to make further arrests," Rishi Sunak informed after tens of thousands of people demonstrated in London and other UK cities in support of Palestinians, a week after Hamas launched the deadliest ever attack on Israel.
Read more: Hamas belies Israel: Tel Aviv hasn't resumed water supplies for Gaza
Hamas killed more than 1,400 people and took dozens more hostage prompting Israel to declare war the next day, unleashing a relentless bombing campaign of Gaza that has left at least 2,750 people dead.
The UK government and police said that they have noted a spike in anti-Semitic crime and incidents in Britain since the Hamas attack. Rishi Sunak said he had told members of Britain's Jewish community he would do "everything in our power to keep them safe", warning that praising Hamas, a banned terrorist organisation in the UK, could result in lengthy prison sentences.
"It's very clear under the law: the support and glorification of Hamas is illegal and those offences are punishable with up to almost 14 years in jail," he said.
The UK police said last week that while supporting Hamas is a crime, general expressions of support for Palestinians, including flying the Palestinian flag, were not criminal offences.
