UPDATE - Israeli premier meets UK’s Sunak in London amid protests

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - British Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak met on Friday in London amid a huge protest against Israel and its premier.

Hundreds of protesters gathered opposite Downing Street as the prime ministers met. The protesters criticized Israel and Netanyahu, as well as Britain, for hosting the Israeli premier.

The demonstration was organized and supported by many groups, including Stop the War Coalition, Na'amod, Muslim Association of Britain, and some other socialist and Palestinian organizations.

Chanting slogans like "Netanyahu shame on you", "Stop arming Israel", and "Stop bombing Gaza," protesters held various signs, some of them reading "Free Palestine", "Sanction Israel", and "Stop Arming Apartheid State."

Speaking to Anadolu, Chaim Blier, who was among some Orthodox Jews that took part in the demonstration, said they support all rights of the Palestinian people.

"We do not have any problem with right or left wing of a Zionist government, we want the dismantlement of the whole Zionist state. The existence of a Zionist state in the Holy Land is completely heresy and it's a violation of human rights," he said.

Blier also said the existence of this "Zionist state of Israel" is also a crime against Judaism.

Rabbi Elhanan Beck said he also came to protest Netanyahu and Israel: "Israel is a rebel against Almighty."

"Muslims don't hate Jews, they hate occupiers and this occupation should come to an end. The whole land should go back to the Palestinians and then we can live together," Rabbi said.

He further said Jews and Muslims have no problem with each other, adding: "Jews, Muslims, and all the people in Palestine (would be) peaceful like (it) used to be for many generations."

Kajsa Anckarstrom, another protester, told Anadolu that "Israel's colonial occupation of Palestine" must end as soon as possible.

"It must end today, because the Palestinian people have been suffering since the (1917) Balfour Declaration, which is the UK's framework of colonial settler fascism," she added.

Anckarstrom said they attended the protest to object to Israel's "colonial, settler, military occupation of Palestine" and to demand freedom for the Palestinian people.

She also criticized the British government's move to allow Elbit, one of Israel's largest private arms manufacturers, to manufacture drone parts in the UK to send to Israel.