Hunt for Gaza protester holding anti-Semitic 'Final Solution' sign at London march
11 December 2023, 09:01
Police are hunting for a man who was seen at the pro-Palestine march on Saturday holding an anti-Semitic sign that compared Israel to the Nazis.
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The man was caught on camera holding a placard that said 'The final solution' on top of an Israeli flag.
The 'final solution' was the Nazi euphemism for the systematic murder of millions of Jewish people in the Holocaust.
Some people have compared the current Israeli bombing and invasion of Gaza, as well as the country's previous conflicts with Hamas, to the Nazis. The comparison is widely condemned as anti-Semitic.
Tens of thousands of people marched again in London over the weekend to protest the war, in which over 16,000 Palestinians are said to have died. Israel is trying to wipe out Hamas in retaliation for the killing of 1,200 people on October 7.
We’re appealing for the public’s help to identify this man as part of an investigation into a placard displayed at yesterday’s protest.
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) December 10, 2023
Call 101 with the reference 4240518/23 if you can help. You can also call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
We understand why… pic.twitter.com/swG6z2OsbO
Police said they were sorry that the protester had not been arrested during the march itself, but added that it was difficult to pick out offensive placards among the huge crowds.
Sharing a photo of the protester, officers said: "We understand why people are angry and disappointed that this man wasn’t arrested yesterday during the protest. We share those frustrations and obviously we wish he had been."
They added: "The reality is with a protest involving 40,000 people where officers are focusing not just on placards but on crowd safety, potential disorder and other offences there will always be some that are missed.
"We have shown that where offences aren’t seen in the moment we will still act, identifying suspects and making arrests.
Some 13 people were arrested on Sunday, taking the total arrests over the two months of protests to over 300.
Officers are also trying to track down a woman who was seen holding a placard that compared the Hamas fighters photographed stripped to their waists with Jewish Holocaust victims who had also been made to take their clothes off.
It comes amid a spike in anti-Semitism in London since the start of the conflict.
Anyone with information has been asked to call 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting 4240518/23 for the “final solution” placard and 4240526/23 for the placard comparing Nazi concentration camps to Gaza.
