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Matthew Offord opposes London demonstration ‘intended to incite hatred against the Jewish people’
June 29, 2016 11:17
An MP and a prominent pro-Israel campaigner will speak at a counter-protest to oppose a demonstration “intended to incite hatred against the Jewish people” on Sunday.
Matthew Offord, the MP for Hendon, and Hillel Neuer - executive director of UN Watch, a human rights NGO - will address hundreds of people at the grassroots rally against the annual Al-Quds Day demonstration outside the US Embassy in London.
Sussex Friends of Israel, which is organising the event titled “It’s Time To Stop The Hate: Stand With Israel” alongside the Zionist Federation and the Israel Advocacy Movement, is expecting up to 1,000 attendees.
Mr Offord, who is a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel, has written to the Metropolitan Police to say that “the display of Hizbollah, Hamas and Daesh flags causes great distress to many of my constituents and the population as a whole and, in my opinion, is contrary to the Terrorism Act.”
Hizbollah - whose military wing is defined by the government as a terrorist organisation - and Hamas flags have been flown at previous rallies, leading to arrests, but no charges. There is no evidence that Daesh flags have been displayed at Al-Quds Day marches.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission, which organises the Al-Quds Day march, has defended its participants’ flying of flags.
Massoud Shadjareh, chair of IHRC, said his organisation “does not orchestrate all banners or flags and it is up to participants which flag/banner they wish to carry - as long as it is within the law and does not have abusive content or language.”
A picture of a previous year’s march on the IHRC’s event page for this year’s demonstration features a poster reading “Stop Ethnic Cleansing: Boycott Israel”.
The annual rally has taken place in London for at least 10 years.
This article has been amended
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