(RightWing.org) – A senior British politician has warned that pro-Palestine marches could give legitimacy to extremist groups. Michael Gove, the Communities Secretary, is planning a crackdown on extremists that’s likely to target Islamists. In the meantime he wants protesters to think about exactly who they’re marching with.
On March 9, Gove, who is responsible for policy on community cohesion, told reporters that some of the almost-weekly marches in London and other British cities since the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel “have been organized by extremist organizations.” Gove said the government will soon release details that will inform anyone who wants to protest against Israel’s war with Hamas exactly who is organizing the demonstrations.
It’s no secret that many of the organizers of these protests are extreme Islamists with links to terrorism. A coalition of six groups has been running the marches, and four of them — the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of al-Aqsa, Muslim Association of Britain, and the Palestinian Forum for Britain — are either linked to Hamas (which is a banned terrorist organization in Britain) or have publicly supported its aims, which include destroying Israel.
Gove also slammed protesters who chant anti-Semitic slogans like “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which is a thinly veiled call for the destruction of Israel. He said this and similar slogans are designed to intimidate. Many British Jews have said they no longer feel safe in London while the marches are going on.
Gove’s department is set to issue a new definition of extremism, although this is controversial. Conservatives fear that, like the current Prevent anti-radicalization program, woke officials will skew it to focus on the largely imaginary threat of far-right terrorism. Leftists complain that it could ban “moderate” groups like the Muslim Council of Britain (which the British government has refused to meet with since 2009 over its support for Hamas).
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