Pro-Palestinian campaigners, including children, burned and trampled an Israeli flag and raised another representing the proscribed terror group Hezbollah in an unruly protest in London this weekend.
Around 150 demonstrators, some also holding Turkish flags and photographs of Al Aqsa mosque, joined the protest outside the Israeli Embassy in Kensington, West London, on Saturday.
The demonstration had been called to protest against the new security measures introduced outside the Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem last week.
In footage posted on YouTube, several protesters can be seen running across the road and snatching an Israeli flag held by a counter-demonstrator.
To loud cheers from the pro-Palestinian crowd, the Israeli flag is set alight by several members of the group, and cries of “Allahu akbar” can be heard.
Stewards can be seen looking on as the flag begins to burn – but Metropolitan Police officers soon arrive on the scene and retrieve the flag.
A second Israeli flag is later shown to have been snatched from pro-Israeli counter-demonstrators.
At least two children can be seen to be among those who stamp up and down on the flag until a police officer emerges and picks it up from the ground.
Embassy staff were not present since the protest was held on Shabbat, but embassy spokesman Yiftah Curiel told The Jerusalem Post that the protest was “a sickening display of support for terror”.
The Palestinian Forum in Britain posted an invitation to the event on its Facebook page, under the banner: “Emergency protest against Israeli aggressions in Jerusalem.”
The notice beneath read: “Israeli government has closed Al Aqsa Mosque, imposed tight security check on worshippers as part of its plans to seize the holy Muslim site.”