Thousands of people rallied on Saturday in London and other UK cities for pro-Palestinian protests, amid police warnings that anyone showing support for Hamas could face arrest. Attendees, who marched through the heart of the British capital as well as Manchester in northern England, Edinburgh in Scotland and other cities, were shadowed by a heavy police presence. Some held Palestinian flags and placards \u2014 bearing slogans including \u201cfreedom for Palestine\u201d, \u201cend the massacre\u201d and \u201csanctions for Israel\u201d \u2014 as they made their way towards the end-point for planned speeches. Chants of \u201cRishi Sunak, shame on you\u201d could be heard. \u201cI think all just people around the world, not just in Britain, must stand up and call for this madness (to end),\u201d Ismail Patel, chairman of the Friends of Al Aqsa campaign, said. In New York City, thousands rallied to show solidarity with Palestinians and draw attention to Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. Demonstrations occurred in various city neighbourhoods on Friday, where participants echoed the call for \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and an end to Israel\u2019s unlawful occupation of Palestinian territories. Ahead of the London protest, the city\u2019s Metropolitan Police Service said it would deploy more than 1,000 officers, as the events thousands of miles away reverberate in Britain and elsewhere. Police and the government have noted a spike in UK anti-Semitic crime and incidents while officers in Sussex, southeast England, arrested a 22-year-old woman suspected of having made a speech backing Hamas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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