Israeli minister praises ‘patriots’ attending Tommy Robinson’s ‘beautiful’ march
Amichai Chikli is Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism
Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Amichai Chikli, has openly praised as “beautiful” a demonstration organised in London by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, adding, “I salute every patriot who marched.”
Up to 150,000 people attended the Unite the Kingdom rally in the capital on Saturday, including significant numbers from Jewish and other ethnic minority groups.
A video posted on social media, and widely shared online showed a group of females, some holding Israeli and Union Jack flags, singing “You can shove your Palestine up your ar**”.
But video footage also showed the Jewish far-right activist Avi Yemeni being called a “Zionist rat” and being asked to leave the protest by a man later identified as a neo-Nazi who was recently suspended from Reform UK over his extremist links.
In a lengthy post on X after the march, Israeli minister Chikli wrote:”London has not looked so beautiful in a long time.
“I salute each and every patriot who marched today in London, and extend great credit to Tommy Robinson for his leadership.
“We must never surrender our civilisation, nor the religious and national identity built over hundreds and thousands of years.”
He added:”Every generation has its struggles, every generation its battles, every nation its unique trials.
“And indeed, we are far away and do not share exactly the same past and faith, yet we are bound by a profound belief in freedom, in healthy nationalism, in faith in the One God that does not seek to coerce or compel others to its path.
“We stand hand in hand with the British people in the hope that they will succeed in passing on to their children a nation-state secure in its identity, proud of its past. God save the King.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer later said UK will not surrender its flag to those who wish to use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division.
He added:”People have a right to peaceful protest. It is core to our country’s values.
“But we will not stand for assaults on police officers doing their job or for people feeling intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin.”
While most people attending on Saturday behaved in a peaceful manner, scuffles broke out as police used batons to try to push back Robinson supporters gathered on the top of Whitehall and Trafalgar Square.
There were clashes with some on a counter-protest organised by the Stand Up To Racism group, who were greatly outnumbered on the day by those supporting Robinson’s march.
The Metropolitan Police said 24 people had been arrested for offences including affray, violent disorder, assaults, and criminal damage, but described this as “just the start”.
In a controversial speech delivered via a video link, tech billionaire Elon Musk spoke to protesters on Whitehall.
The X owner claimed a “dissolution of Parliament” is needed and said “massive uncontrolled migration” was contributing to the “destruction of Britain” in comments via video link.
He also told the crowd that “violence is coming” and that “you either fight back or you die”.
Destiny Church priest Brian Tamaki told the crowds that “Christian ethics” had been “traded for secular humanism,” which he said was “Satan’s tool”.
Speaking at the protest, dubbed by Robinson as the “UK’s largest free speech festival”, he added: “We’ve got to clean our countries up, we’ve got to get everything out that does not know or perceive Jesus Christ.
“Ban any type of public expression in our Christian nations from other religions.”
Another speaker, Katie Hopkins, who described herself as the “biggest bitch in Britain”, told the protesters that they will “get freedoms back for our kids and grandchildren”.
She said: “I don’t care what religion you are, just don’t try to take your religion and shove it down the faces of my children or my people.
Far-right French politician Eric Zemmour, who came in fourth place in the first round of the 2022 French presidential election, told the crowds:“We are both subject to the same process of the great replacement of our European people by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture, you and we are being colonised by our former colonies.”
The video of the group of females making derogatory remarks about Palestine later sparked debate on social media.
Islamist web pages claimed it showed the link between Israel and the far-right in the UK. While some far-right activists also condemned the involvement of pro-Israel and “Zionist” voices in their movement.
Other online footage showed the presence at the demo of several far-right extremists, including the nea-Nazi White Vanguard leader Kai Cunningham.
Cunningham was filmed confronting Robinson collaborator Avi Yemeni, a known Jewish far-right activist who works with Rebel News, an online news outlet that has promoted the previously jailed leader of Saturday’s demo.
Someone was then heard saying there was no place for Yemini’s “Jewish influence” on the protest, adding “Britain for the British!”
In a statement, the Met Police’s Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist later said: “Officers went into today’s operation knowing it would be busy and potentially challenging. They policed without fear or favour and approached engagement with all protesters positively.
“There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence. They confronted officers, engaging in physical and verbal abuse and making a determined effort to breach cordons in place to keep everyone safe.
“The violence they faced was wholly unacceptable. 24 officers were injured, including four seriously – among them broken teeth, a possible broken nose, a concussion, a prolapsed disc, and a head injury.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood posted on X: “The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to this nation. I thank the police who worked hard to ensure much of today’s protest was peaceful.
“But I condemn those who have attacked and injured police officers. Anyone taking part in criminal activity will face the full force of the law.”
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