A ‘pro-Palestine’ demonstration outside Parliament turned (more) nasty when the crowd was confronted by Lord Austin, Britain’s new trade envoy to Israel.
The marchers, backed by 17 Labour MPs who left the Commons to join the protest, heard Austin say “Free Gaza from Hamas” and “Free the hostages”. They responded by pushing the former Labour peer, while throwing liquids and shouting “Shame on you!”
Austin himself recalls
Shocking stuff.
When I said “free the hostages” or “free Gaza from Hamas” they screamed “shame on you”.
I was grabbed, pushed and jostled.
Water poured over me.
Just for saying the hostages should be freed.
Many of them are racists who support terrorism.
Towards the end of his tenure as the Labour MP for Dudley North (2005 to 2019), Austin was embroiled in frequent conflict over alleged antisemitism in the party under its then leader Jeremy Corbyn. On the day Austin confronted pro-Hamas protestors outside Parliament, Diane Abbott—Corbyn’s Shadow Home Secretary—wore a keffiyeh in the House of Commons.
The incident once again flags up the problem of two-tier policing, where opponents of Hamas and its allies are treated more harshly than pro-Gaza marchers, including ones who break the law in full public view.
