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Thousands at London anti-Israel march; Manchester activists steal bust of Chaim Weizmann.
Police arrest man in UK capital for sign they say ‘supported terror’; in Manchester, activists nab effigy of Israel’s first president on anniversary of Balfour Declaration.
Tens of thousands of anti-Israel protesters marched through the streets of London towards the US embassy Saturday to call on Washington to stop arming Jerusalem amid its war on Iran-backed terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Protesters waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags and signs reading, “Free Palestine” and “End Israeli apartheid.”
London police said a man was arrested at the protest after he was observed carrying a placard suspected of expressing support for a terror organization.
According to posts on social media, the sign read, “Resistance is not terrorism.”
Far-left lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn addressed the protest, which was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
A small pro-Israel counter-protest gathered near the march, with protesters waving British and Israeli flags and holding signs calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza.
Earlier on Saturday, a British anti-Israel group claimed to have stolen a bust of Chaim Weizmann, Israel’s first president, from the University of Manchester in northern England.
The group, Palestine Action, said their activists went to “abduct” the sculpture of the late Israeli leader because he “secured” the Balfour Declaration, “which began the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by signing the land away.”
Greater Manchester Police said the burglary was reported shortly before midnight Friday night, according to British media reports. Police said they were investigating the incident.
The group said their activists stole the bust to mark the 107th anniversary of the declaration, in which the British Government issued a commitment to “establish in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people,” which was at the time governed by the Ottoman Empire.
The declaration is considered the first of many steps that led to the creation of Israel.
Weizmann, who worked as a biochemistry professor at the University of Manchester, was a leading statesman of the Zionist movement in the early 1900s. He spearheaded the international diplomatic efforts that led to international recognition of the budding Jewish state, and is considered one of Israel’s founding fathers.
times of israel