Suella Braverman attacks pro-Palestine protests as ‘hate marches’

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Get our free View from Westminster email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In her strongest attack yet on Palestinian supporters, the cabinet minister said the protests about Israel’s bombardment of Gaza had featured “a large number of bad actors” behaving in “utterly odious” way. She said: “We’ve seen now tens of thousands of people take to the streets following the massacre of Jewish people – the single loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, chanting for the erasure of Israel from the map.” Making no attempt to distinguish between the majority of peaceful protesters and those calling for the “erasure” of Israel, she said: “To my mind there is only one way to describe those marches – they are hate marches.” Asked if she though the chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was antisemitic, she said the police were operationally independent, but added: “The police must take a zero tolerance approach to antisemitism.” She said the protests featured “a large number of bad actors who are deliberately operating beneath the criminal threshold” – adding that some were behaving in a way that was “utterly odious”. Asked if she was willing to make changes, as the Met chief suggested, Mr Braverman said: “We get our laws under review, and if there is a need to change the law … I will not hesitate to act.” The home secretary also said she agreed with Sir Mark that there was “accelerated terror threat” and said it was vital for the government “keeping a close eye” on the developing situation – but no change in the threat level. Meanwhile, education minister Robert Halfon, who is Jewish, told Times Radio that hearing the “river to the sea” phrase being chanted was “horrific” and “scary”, adding: “It’s frightening for Jewish people in England at the moment, you know.” The minister said he had Jewish students “are having Palestinian flags draped over their cars” and had some people “knocking on doors saying ‘we know where you live’.” He pointed to Community Security Trust figures which suggest antisemitic incidents had gone up by over 400 per cent since the 7 October terror attack by Hamas.