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10th June 2018

This year’s pro-Hizballah parade was more repulsive than ever, with even a baby wrapped in the terrorist organisation’s bloodcurdling flag

The pro-Hizballah parade held today succeeded in being even more repulsive than in past years.

Under a heavy police presence, including a police helicopter, riot police and officers on horseback, supporters of Hizballah gathered in London for the annual “Al Quds Day” pro-Hizballah parade.

As in past years, the volunteers of Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit went into the thick of it to gather evidence which we are already reviewing. Our efforts last year resulted in us bring a private prosecution against the leader of the parade, Nazim Ali, who was in charge again this year. Last year we allege that he blamed “Zionists” for the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

We had expressed grave concerns about violence at the parade, but to their credit, the Metropolitan Police Service managed to avoid bloodshed despite the presence in a small area of Hizballah supporters, the far-right and British Jewish groups opposed to antisemitism.

The organisers of the parade, a registered charity calling itself the Islamic Human Rights Commission, had issued guidance to attendees telling them that “you can bring a Hizballah flag to show support for the political wing of Hizballah.” Whilst the British Government has proscribed the “military wing” of Hizballah under the Terrorism Act 2000, the “political wing” is not proscribed.

The organisers began by distributing placards proclaiming “We are all Hizballah”, and the terrorist organisation’s flag soon began to fly over London. Some of those attending draped themselves in Hizballah flags and others wore Hizballah uniform. Some attached stickers to their flags stating that they were only showing support for the “political wing” of Hizballah, knowing that police have not been given the powers to take action.

One scene that set a new repulsive low for the parade was the sight of a man who had wrapped a baby in the flag of the genocidal terrorist organisation.

The parade soon began to resemble a march in Teheran or Beirut, with marchers carrying aloft portraits of Holocaust-denying theocrat Ali Khomeini and Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah, whilst the leaders of the march attempted to set fire to the flag of the world’s only Jewish state.

Highly-inflammatory speakers addressed the crowd, including the disgraced Reverend Dr Stephen Sizer, who previously claimed that Israel was behind 9/11, and Mick Napier, who has led numerous disorderly demonstrations in his native Scotland and has a conviction for aggravated trespass at an anti-Israel demonstration. Dr Les Levidow, a Senior Research Fellow at the Open University, ended his speech to the pro-Hizballah parade: “Down with the anti-terror laws”.

However when the pro-Hizballah parade tried to move from its starting position, it was ambushed by a group of anti-terrorism protesters who blocked their way. Playing Jewish folk music and chanting “terrorist scum, off our streets”, they were eventually pushed on by police officers, but even then they stayed at the front of the pro-Hizballah parade all of the way to its conclusion at Downing Street, walking slowly and reducing its progress to a crawl.

A large peaceful counterdemonstration was also held by Jewish organisations, led by the Zionist Federation. Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism, addressed the counter demonstration, saying: “We are here because the supporters of a terrorist organisation that openly seeks the genocide of the entire Jewish people, are marching through our capital” and demanding that Sajid Javid ban Hizballah in its entirety so that there could be no further pro-Hizballah parades.

Earlier this week, Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote to the new Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, to set out the case for proscribing all of Hizballah. We also made representations to the Charity Commission regarding the Islamic Human Rights Commission, as well as holding a meeting with and making representations to the Metropolitan Police Service .

Signatures for our Parliamentary Petition calling for the proscription of the whole of Hizballah have soared past 14,000, with signatures coming in from all but one of the UK’s 650 Parliamentary constituencies. The Government must now formally respond under Parliamentary rules as we have received in excess of 10,000 signatures. The petition can be signed at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/219020.

We hope that following today’s appalling spectacle, Mr Javid will now proscribe all of Hizballah and once and for all prevent the brazen display of support for the Iranian-sponsored genocidal antisemitic terrorist organisation on our streets. Today must be the last time that Hizballah supporters are allowed to mount a show of force through the heart of London.

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