• Hamas supporters use Lebanon to fire rockets into Israel

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I'm a local resident too. I do not have any problem with people protesting either for or against Israel/Palestine.

They are protesting in Kensington because the Israeli embassy happens to be here. It does not upset me in the slightest!

Most of these people are tax paying Brits, they have the right to protest. Many of them live in Kensington and own businesses here! I do not like the way they are referred to as 'mobs' which is untrue. I agree there must be limits and violence should not be tolerated. I also saw the police being heavy handed with the youngsters. They are only teenagers in hoddies-leave them alone!

Let's not forget that many of these Brits have lost loved ones in this conflict. They are frustrated and hurt..

This does not make them less British..we should be proud of our multi-cultural society. Hopefully this conflict will end in peace. When I invite my Arab and Jewish friends to my home, everyone gets on fine. Why is this not possible in real life?

- Ellie De Lucy, Kensington, 09/01/2009 12:18
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If they are so upset,then why are they not in their own country,and fighting the Israelis instead of upsetting England.Answers on a postcard please.

- John, benidorm,spain, 09/01/2009 09:58
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Israel has the right to defend herself. I note that even in the demonstrations, it was the anti Israel mob causing the trouble

- Marky, Cardiff Wales, 09/01/2009 09:43
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Both sides in this conflict are in the wrong. Isreal could have purchased the C-RAM system years ago which would have defended agaisnt the Hamas launched missiles. Hamas can't argue that launching missiles at Isreal isn't provocative. Both sides are the excuse for the others bigotry

- Chaz, Perth, Australia, 09/01/2009 02:30
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'Am I missing something? Is London the capital of Israel? Or Palestine? Go demonstrate in those countries. What does it have to do with the English? (yeah, I know, arms sales, history) but really - do something that might actually make a difference instead of going on a pathetic demo and being a cliche of yourselves guys.'

- Lewis, London

We live in a small world, people have been demonstrating about world events for years in countries all around the globe that matter them AND making a difference.

- Beyondtheuk, Enfield, London, 08/01/2009 20:16
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And the police were heavy handed were they? Try being faced with an angry mob like the one put up by the Palestinians. I tell you, I've stood in crowds in front of football fans going crazy...imagine what the police must have felt in front of that mob. You think they're just going to take a softly softly approach? Clearly you've never served in the police or done any kind of security work if you think that...

- David, London, 08/01/2009 20:01
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What is the point in demonstrating??1 million people were ignored when it came to Iraq.

- Sam, London, 08/01/2009 17:53
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- Noah De Lucy, London you are so very gullible.

- P, Brixton SW, 08/01/2009 17:25
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Knock heads and take names

- Mike, Denver, USA, 08/01/2009 16:10
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Ron Oliver, Edinburgh Scotland . get your facts right , the reports shown of Palestinians cheering was actually as a result of Arafat being allowed back and appoligies had tobe made by the agencies that misrepresented the facts , especially when they related to events that had occurred 2-3 years previous. GET IT RIGHT

- Adam, LONDON, 08/01/2009 15:50
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That Stick and Bowl restaurant , what are its other signature dishes ?

thanks

- Dixon Kipretich, Ugley, Essex, 08/01/2009 14:57
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do you know if the egg fried rice is halaal or kosher?

- Joe, N10, London, 08/01/2009 14:51
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I am a local resident too and do not wish to take sides. Liz is right to some extent. However, I must say that the police were heavy handed with the pro-Palestine crowd. That crowd did have a large proportion of teenagers (typical teenage Londoners) and I witnessed myself how aggressive the police were with the youngsters.

Also, the Pro-Palestinians were not only Muslim. There were many Palestinian Christians whom I spoke too and who happen to be Kensington residents. There were many EU nationals as well. I do not believe that what happened in 7/7 reflects the mostly peaceful Muslim community.

I spoke to some pro-Israeli protesters who did have fair points of view. When I asked one of them of the British flags, she said 'it's because Israel would not be here today without Britain's pledge in 1917 to create a Jewish homeland'...

Both sides are still British and I hope they show the same patriotism towards Britain when it needs them.

- Noah De Lucy, London, 08/01/2009 14:50
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I think you will find that our Pro-Palestine demonstration has been present outside the embassy every day this week and that in fact it was the pro-israel demonstrators who gathered only yards from us in what can only be seen as a deliberate provocation.

- Fiona Chisholm, London, 08/01/2009 14:49
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to David, London: You now the main difference that matters to me ? It's hundreds of civilians dying on their land every week on one side, a few fully armed and armoured soldiers falling while invading a foreign territory on this other side.

For the rest I don't do politics. I just count human lives lost, including soldiers. I started to count in the 90s, and the gap between both sides is pretty large. Whether you don't like their language or flags is of little importance.

- Sam, Here in France, 08/01/2009 14:47
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Bloody Galloway! He should be arrested for inciting violence! What a

- Colin, London, 08/01/2009 14:46
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Even if you don't care about what happens in the rest of the world you should be grateful they are allowed to demonstrate. Otherwise you'd be living in a dictatorship.

- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx, 08/01/2009 14:17
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Utter stupidity to allow the demos at the same time, and very telling that the Police dispersed and became "heavy-handed" with the pro-Palestine NOT the pro-Israeli faction.

- Lp, London, 08/01/2009 13:53
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i recall that the residents of the Gaza strip were on the streets cheeering and kids handing out sweets to celebrate the 9/11 attack. i have no sympathy and those demostrators that are giving hassle to others in the name of terrorist organisations and are found to be here illegally should be arrested and thrown out sine die and any permits they or their families have be revoked at the same time.

- Ron Oliver, Edinburgh Scotland, 08/01/2009 13:51
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I love the Rice from that place.

- Reg Copp, Newcastle, UK, 08/01/2009 13:45
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As I walked away from the (pro-Israel) demo, a woman on the other side of the road shouted "Death to Israel" at me.

I'd spent the previous 2 hours singing songs about Peace, Shalom and Salaam. We also sang the UK national anthem to show our pride in being Brits.

That's the difference between Pro-Israel people and Pro-Palestinians - we Jews want peacful co-existence, with no more rockets and no more terror. The pro-Arabs are just wound up with murderous hatred towards Jews, the West, the UK and anyone who is not one of them. If Israel disappeared, it'd be Europe next.

- Michael, London, 08/01/2009 13:39
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You are quite correct in saying that this is England and not Palestine or any other Arab or Muslim country.
All are welcome to the UK but not to bring with them antisemitic views from whichever hell hole they previously came from for a better life in the UK.
Peaceful protest will always have a place in British life.

- Howard, Gdansk, Poland, 08/01/2009 13:37
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The report seems to suggest that the violence was either largely or exclusively perpetrated by the pro-Hamas side.

The only arrests were on the pro-Hamas side. That is very telling.

- Danny, London, 08/01/2009 13:33
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I have a real problem with the tendency of pro-Palestinian groups' supporters to war masks. Why is this allowed? Clearly they set out to cause trouble and thats why they hide their identity. If they don't have the guts to show their faces then they are no better than other criminals....

Personally, I don't want main streets in my city to be taken over by gangs of unidentified individuals roaming around.

- Mark, London, UK, 08/01/2009 13:31
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In response to Alex, London:

"The protest had started peacefully with demonstrators, some waving Israeli flags... are you serious?? How can you characterise people who wave the flags of a state that targets schools, hospitals, ambulances, places of worship and civilians and use tactics such as employing F-16s, heavy artillery, Apache helicopters against a defenceless population of 1.5m as peaceful????"

Where was there a pro-Israeli protest anyway? Was Israeli bombed over 60 times last night? Have 600 Israelis been killed in the last two weeks?

- Anon, London, 08/01/2009 13:13
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Jealous Omar? That's what this is really all about and always has been.

- Candice, London, 08/01/2009 13:06
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Let them have White Hart Lane for the afternoon - losers clear up the mess.

- Roy G, Solihull, England, 08/01/2009 13:01
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It is becoming increasingly clear that the pro palestinian demonstrators have a hidden agenda and that is the promotion of there Islamic ideals,and that is the reason i walked away from the demonstration in Trafalgar square on Saturday,i spotted several groups of Islamic jihadists etc who where proclaiming sharia law etc etc.As a secularist and a atheist i went to that demonstration simply to protest against the obscenity of war and the blockade of Gaza,but I'm beginning to think that Israel who know there enemy far better than we in the west do have no option in the way thay deal with hamas who are dedicated Islamists and who are also dedicated to the total destruction of Israel.My hope is that the poor people of Gaza will see how thay have been used by hamas and fundamental Islam.

- Kev, London-UK, 08/01/2009 12:48
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Has anyone beem to the Stick and Bowl in the picture?
It sells very good egg fried rice.

- Kai, London, 08/01/2009 12:40
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Am I missing something? Is London the capital of Israel? Or Palestine? Go demonstrate in those countries. What does it have to do with the English? (yeah, I know, arms sales, history) but really - do something that might actually make a difference instead of going on a pathetic demo and being a cliche of yourselves guys.

- Lewis, London, 08/01/2009 12:37
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at least people care - just remember whatever side you support we are not, yet, living in a country where the question every morning is - will we live to the end of the day; where is my water, where is my food, will my child ever get an education.

Will the people on these site remember behind the indulgence of anonymous blogging that we are ridiculously priveleged compared to the rest of the planet - and everyone here is allowed a voice.

the whole situation makes me weep; I don't know the solution but an awful lot of people are dying in pain - and its not us!

- Jc, se1, 08/01/2009 12:34
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Didn't see this lot out protesting against the London bombings.

This must have been a great photo opportunity for the Police, enough to swell those files.

- Sandy, London, 08/01/2009 12:28
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I was at the pro-Israel rally last night and the contrast between the two rallies was amazing.

We had British and Israeli flags. They had Hamas and Hezbollah flags (UK banned terrorist groups)

We sang God Save the Queen and several songs calling for peace and called for an end to Hamas terrorism. Nobody called for military action of any sort.

I couldn’t pick out what they were yelling for, but it was clearly very aggressive.

The police were there to stop them rioting, which was mostly successful although they did hurl missiles at us and at the police

The police were there to protect us. We did not cause any trouble.

The groups they support called this week (again) for attacks on Jews worldwide and three years ago cheered the bombs on the London tube trains.

We carried banners calling for an end to terrorism and peace for Israel and Gaza.

By the way there were about 3,000 on our side, not as stated in the article.

- David, London, 08/01/2009 12:25
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So the leader of the British Muslim Initiative is thinks "It was a mistake to allow the other (anti-Hamas) rally at the same time"? Well, the article points out quite clearly that the demonstrations weren't supposed to happen at the same time...but that George Galloway incited the anti-Israel stay over their allotted time slot. "The rally had been due to finish at 7pm, half an hour before the pro-Israel rally started, but Respect MP George Galloway spoke on a loud hailer urging a group of 150 to stay". So it looks like having an anti-Hamas demo at all is inevitably going to be "at the same time" as an anti-Israel demo, because the anti-Israel lot won't go home when their slot's up. So does that mean that it's "a mistake" and "provocative" to ever allow a anti-Hamas demo?
I'm a local resident, and walked past some of the trouble on my way home, and it was quite clear that the anti-Hamas demonstration was entirely peaceful, very civilly behaved, while the anti-Israel protestors were throwing all kinds of things at them. I don't like to take sides in what is a messy dispute with a lot of fault on both sides, but I was really frightened by the behaviour of these people near my home.

- Liz, London, 08/01/2009 11:56
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Mohamad Sawalha says that allowing the pro-Israelis to demonstrate was provocative. Mr Sawalha should remember that the UK tolerates free speak - his and the pro-Israelis. It is a shame that Mr Sawalha is not as tolerant as the UK.

- Anthony, London, 08/01/2009 11:54
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After this, all those people in the picture went to Tantra nightclub and spent 200 pound each on champagne. Its what they do.

- Omar, Loondon, 08/01/2009 11:21
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"The protest had started peacefully with demonstrators, some waving Hamas and Hezbollah flags"... are you serious?? How can you characterise people who wave the flags of 2 listed terrorist organisations who target civilians and use tactics such as suicide-bombings as peaceful????

If they want to show solidarity with the people of gaza and support peace then wave palestinian flags but to wave flags to terrorist organisations is provocative, insensitive and hateful.

- Alex, London, 08/01/2009 11:16
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Bring out the tear gas and water cannon I say.

- Steve, London, 08/01/2009 11:06
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That's funny, when there wasn't a counter pro-Israeli demonstration, the pro-muslim terrorist demonstrators still caused violence.

Must be something in the Muslim make up?

- Frank, Home Counties, England, 08/01/2009 11:02
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These people, Jews and Muslims alike, need to be reminded that this is a war, not a football match.

- Jane Bewick, London, 08/01/2009 10:54
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just another average day in multicultural Britain...........
Bless George Galloway. Does anyone remember when he pretended to be that Cat on BB???????

- Jonny, London, 08/01/2009 10:12
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