Police hunt women wearing 'offensive images' at London pro-Palestine protest

15 October 2023 , 17:20

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The Met Police are looking for help identifying two protesters (Image: Met Police)

The Metropolitan Police have said they are looking for two women who attended a pro-Palestine protest in London and were spotted with images of paragliders on their clothes.

The force said it is investigating a public order offence, but currently, they only have a "front on" image of one of the two women. The huge protest was given the go-ahead and was attended by tens of thousands of people, but supporters were warned that anyone showing support for Hamas could face arrest.

One of the women was wearing a red top with a white neckline, a light blue face mask, blue and black trousers and was carrying a purple bag. The other woman was wearing a red top and appeared to have had an image of a paraglider stuck to her back.

The protesters had pictures of paragliders taped to the back of their jackets (Met Police)

The force said they only had one 'front on' image of one of the women (Met Police)

The Met did not specify the exact offence the two women are being hunted for, but it could be linked to the images they had taped on their clothes - as Hamas militants used paragliders to enter Israel last weekend. The force tweeted: "Officers investigating a public order offence wish to identify 2 women who attended the protests yesterday; at present we only have a ‘front on’ image of the woman in red. We ask these women or anyone who knows their identity to contact officers via 101 or @MetCC, ref 3077/15oc."

Marchers filled the streets of central London on Saturday as thousands also gathered in Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and other parts of the UK. Demonstrators carried flags and flares and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans as marchers heard calls for world leaders to condemn Israel's actions.

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People march during a rally in support of Palestinians under Israeli attacks in Belfast (Anadolu via Getty Images)

It comes as thousands of Palestinians attempted a mass exodus from northern Gaza after Israel's military told them to evacuate before an expected ground invasion. The UN, human rights groups and others have been among those expressing deep concern about the impact of Israeli action on civilians as the death toll continues to rise amid airstrikes and a siege on the territory.

The renewed violence came after an attack last week by the Palestinian militant group Hamas left around 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers dead. More than 1,000 officers were deployed by the Metropolitan Police before Saturday's demonstration in the capital, with police saying in advance that anyone showing support for Hamas may face arrest as Hamas is a proscribed terrorist group.

Certain areas of London were covered by a Section 60AA power, which requires a person to remove items that might be used to conceal their identity, such as masks, until the early evening. Section 12 of the Public Order Act covered the route of the demonstration, which finished in Whitehall mid-afternoon.

As marchers arrived in the thoroughfare and made their way to a stage outside Downing Street, chants of "Rishi Sunak, shame on you" and "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" rang out among the crowd. Home Secretary Suella Braverman earlier this week urged police chiefs to consider whether chanting that pro-Palestine slogan could amount to an offence, while also suggesting that waving Palestinian flags could in some contexts be seen as illegitimate.

Protestors pictured during a Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration in Edinburgh (PA)

Jeremy Corbyn and the head of the Palestinian mission in London Husam Zomlot were among those addressing the crowd, with the former Labour leader urging politicians to condemn Israeli actions in Gaza. He said: "As we wave the Palestinian flag, let's hear it for the people of the West Bank, for the people of Gaza, for the people of the refugee camps, and say very bluntly to our political leaders in this country: 'Do not condone war crimes, do not condone the starvation and the denial of medicine to desperate people in Gaza or anywhere else.'

"If you believe in international law, if you believe in human rights, then you must condemn what is happening now in Gaza by the Israeli army." A minute's silence was observed for those killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Chiara Fiorillo