Thousands march in London to call for cease-fire amid controversy over protest on Armistice Day

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – People in the British capital held a massive rally in solidarity with Palestinians and marched towards the US Embassy to press Washington for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle Eastern country.

A huge crowd gathered in London's Hyde Park on Saturday to call for a cease-fire while protesting Israel and those governments that have yet to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, where the death toll has climbed to over 11,000 people.

Carrying Palestinian flags and signs, thousands of people after gathering at Hyde Park marched towards the US Embassy while chanting pro-Palestine slogans.

Meanwhile, a large number of British Jews from different groups gathered near the Bolivar Statue to protest Israel, joining thousands of other protesters calling for an end to bloodshed in the besieged enclave.

The massive march came following days of controversy, as the pro-Palestine march coincided with Armistice Day in which the two-minute silence was observed on Whitehall.

However, far-right groups, which had earlier announced that they would arrive in London on Saturday to "protect the Cenotaph war memorial," clashed with police.

The Metropolitan Police have made a number of arrests following the clash in central London.

Earlier, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called Saturday's pro-Palestinian demonstration "disrespectful," and with an Armistice Day service scheduled for the same day.

Sunak noted that he would hold the Metropolitan Police chief accountable for allowing the pro-Palestinian demonstration on Armistice Day.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has sparked widespread outrage after calling the protests "hate marches."

Later she wrote an article in the Times, asserting: "I do not believe that these marches are merely a cry for help for Gaza."

"They are an assertion of primacy by certain groups -- particularly Islamists -- of the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland," she wrote.