Protesters spray red paint on Labour HQ, demanding end to bombing of Gaza
A group of young activists sprayed red paint across the Labour Party HQ on Monday in protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza.
Five members of Youth Demand, an offshoot group of Just Stop Oil, targeted the exterior and lobby of the building in Rushworth Street, Southwark, shortly before 3pm.
At the same time, another group of about 70 members gathered at Victoria Embankment Gardens before marching to Parliament Square, holding banners which read ‘Youth Demand an End to Genocide’.
The group called on both Tories and Labour to commit to imposing a two-way arms embargo on Israel, as well as ending all future licensing and development of fossil fuels in the UK.
One member of Youth Demand, Chris Faulkner, 21, an Earth Sciences student from Oxford, said: “There has never been a safer time for Labour to be bold. Instead, they are behaving like the biggest cowards imaginable.
“As long as the upcoming Government is threatening to continue [to allow] genocide, coordinated civil resistance is our only option. Radical change has to come from young people.”
The Israeli Government’s retaliatory attacks on Gaza have killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Large parts of the territory are destroyed and many other Palestinians have been left on the brink of famine.
The Israeli Government launched its bombing campaign after a Hamas-led attack on October 7 in Southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and saw more than 250 taken hostage.
Police made 12 arrests on suspicion of criminal damage.
A spokesman for the Met said: “At 2.18pm, police were called to an incident of criminal damage in Rushworth Street, Southwark, following reports of protesters spraying paint inside and outside of a business property.
“Officers were on scene within two minutes and have arrested 12 people on suspicion of criminal damage.”
Labour declined to comment.
Pictured top: Youth Demand protesters outside the Labour HQ on Monday (Picture: Youth Demand)
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