24 Jul. 24: London police arrested six pro-Palestinian protesters, who sealed off entrances to the Foreign Office on Wednesday morning in protest of Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s failure to fulfil his pre-election pledges regarding arms sales to Israel, reports Middle East Monitor.
The Workers for a Free Palestine, a network of trade unionists, workers, and anti-Israeli war activists in Britain, organised the protest, which drew up to 300 people and featured a large banner that read “Genocide Made in Britain.”
According to protesters, the police have arrested six people.
According to the MEM report, protesters criticised Lammy, urging him to send legal advice to his Labour government on arms sales to Israel, as he had promised when in opposition.
The protest also aimed to support Labour and opposition MPs advocating for a ban on arms sales in the House of Commons, as well as to show solidarity with Public and Commercial Services Union members in the Foreign Office and Department of Business and Trade.
Lammy, who is currently in India, has been accused of inaction regarding the UK’s continued licensing of arms exports to Israel.
Protesters also demanded clarity on whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be detained if he visited the UK in response to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant.
In opposition, Labour had pressured the previous government to disclose this legal advice.
Lammy responded that he was not privy to legal advice given to prior governments and had started his own quasi-judicial process. “I want my deliberations to be as transparent as possible,” he stated.
