'Stop arming Israel': Film premiere in London disrupted by pro-Palestine protesters

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Pro-Palestine protesters on Thursday disrupted English and American actor Andrew Garfield's film premiere in London, calling for an arms embargo on Israel.

The action took place at the London Film Festival during the screening of We Live in Time movie, where a pro-Palestine activist urged the British government to halt arms shipments to Israel.

Footage, shared by Youth Demand group on X, shows the 20-year-old protester, Starr Thomas, holding a Palestinian flag and shouting: "This is not normal ... babies are being blown to pieces and the UK government is funding it."

She called for an immediate arms embargo on Israel, vowing to "keep standing up for what is right."

Recalling the Palestinian youth burned alive in Israeli strike on Gaza tent camp last week, the protester said he would have turned 20 but was burned alive with an IV drip in his arm.

At least four people were killed and 40 injured when Israeli warplanes hit a courtyard at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah, burning dozens of tents as displaced Palestinians slept.

In a statement, Thomas said: "The only way to achieve justice is through direct action so I will continue putting my body on the line and using my voice. We cannot have business as usual during a genocide."

Accusing the government of "facilitating genocide," Thomas said she refuses to follow the rules of a state "that profits off of mass death, and stays silent while babies are being blown to pieces."

On Sept. 2, the British government announced that it was suspending 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel after a review, warning there is a clear risk that certain UK arms exports to Israel might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

The 30 licenses cover components for military aircraft, helicopters, drones, and items that facilitate ground targeting, excluding UK components for the F-35 fighter jet program.

Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 42,400 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 99,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.​​​​​​​