The Assembly believes the event provides an opportunity for
anti-Semitic organisations to publicise themselves.
A motion, agreed today, called on the Mayor
to write to the Home Secretary, urging her to take action, so the
Met can protect London against the promotion of terrorist
material at the march.
AM, who proposed the original motion, said:
“The annual Al-Quds Day Parade is a huge concern to many
Londoners. Marchers openly carry Hezbollah flags through the
streets of London – an organisation which opposes the existence
of Israel. I believe that this rally is a nexus for anti-Israeli
and anti-Semitic sentiment and it is not right that it is allowed
to continue.
On 23rd June, I wrote to the Home Secretary, asking her to
close the loophole which allows it to happen and ban the
political wing of Hezbollah, in order to bring the UK into line
with the USA, France, The Netherlands, Bahrain, Australia and the
Arab League. This motion asks the Mayor to add his voice to get
this anti-Semitic rally banned.”
AM, who
proposed the amended motion said:
"This march is a vehicle to spread a detestable
message of anti-Semitism.
I have long argued that Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation
and their purported distinction between a ‘political’ and
‘military’ wing is a false one. I believe Hezbollah should be
proscribed in its entirety, as it is in so many other
countries.
The Mayor’s extensive work to tackle hatred of all kinds must
now be matched with real action from
government. It's time the Home Secretary
supported fully Londoners and the Mayor
in protecting London from the sorts
of message promoted by this march."
The full text of the Motion is:
“This Assembly notes with alarm that the Al Quds Day parade has
become an event which many people consider to be anti-Semitic.
This Assembly believes that this march provides an opportunity
for anti-Semitic organisations to publicise themselves and that
the Police have been unable to prevent the display of material
that aims to recruit to terrorist organisations. We also note the
loophole which allows Hezbollah flags to be flown in the streets
of London and that the political wing of Hezbollah is not
proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom,
unlike in the United States, France, Israel, the Netherlands,
Bahrain, Australia and the Arab League, where the whole of
Hezbollah is proscribed in full as a terrorist organisation.
We call upon the Mayor to now act upon this and write to the Home
Secretary on behalf of the people of London to ask her to take
action to ensure that the Met Police can protect London against
the promotion of terrorist material and violence. We further
support the Mayor’s work to tackle all forms of prejudice, and
the violence that arises from it, including faith-based prejudice
such as anti-Semitism and islamophobia; as well as attacks on
race, gender, sexual orientation and disability.”
Watch the motion video
Notes to editors:
1. Watch the full
webcast.
2. The motion was agreed by 18 votes for and 0
against.
