Holocaust survivor, 87, questioned by police after laying flowers at Trafalgar Square throughout Gaza protest | EUROtoday

An aged Holocaust survivor has been questioned by police after he laid flowers at Trafalgar Square throughout a Gaza protest to commemorate the tens of hundreds of Palestinians killed within the Israel-Hamas battle.

Stephen Kapos, 87, was interviewed by the Metropolitan Police on Friday concerning the pro-Palestine protest on 18 January in central London – an indication the power confronted accusations of “repressive and heavy-handed policing” over on the time.

Mr Kapos lived in hiding beneath the Nazi regime as a baby in Budapest, Hungary, after he misplaced contact together with his mom, and his father was taken to Bergen-Belsen focus camp.

He is amongst 9 individuals who have been referred to as in by the Met for questioning after 77 folks had been arrested on the day of the protest. So far, 21 folks have since been charged.

Speaking exterior Charing Cross Police Station following his interview on Friday afternoon, Mr Kapos instructed The Independent he deliberate to proceed marching for peace in Gaza, describing how “proud” he’s that his household, together with his son and grandchildren, additionally be a part of him.

He mentioned he wished to disprove claims that “there is solid support from all Jews towards what’s going on”.

Mr Kapos spoke surrounded by round 100 supporters, lots of whom had been both Holocaust survivors or descendants of them. A banner studying “Holocaust survivor descendants against Gaza genocide!” was one of many indicators being held up, whereas chants reminiscent of “We are all Palestinians” had been referred to as out by the group.

The grandfather confused the significance of this throughout per week when Israel launched a recent wave of assaults on the Strip, shattering the delicate ceasefire that had held for the previous few weeks in a transfer he described as “horrifying”.

“The sort of killing that’s going on, it’s unbearable to watch and one wonders where it’s leading to because there is no defence to speak of. They are defenceless people out in the open.

“Their homes have been bombed to smithereens and they are in tents and now they are going to be bombed. It’s unbearable and I don’t understand how the world can stand it.

“And I’m ashamed of our government and everybody else who facilitates it and enables it.”

Mr Kapos strongly criticised the UK authorities’s response, calling for it to sentence Israel’s actions and to finish all army contracts.

“They should at the very minimum condemn Israel’s actions, which they don’t do, and immediately stop all supplies of armaments and any other logistical and information support that they do give,” he mentioned.

“All that should be stopped immediately because there’s no doubt about this being an atrocity and international crime, what’s going on, what’s perpetrated by Israel. So how can you hesitate in the face of that?”

Earlier this week Sir Keir Starmer mentioned he was “deeply concerned” concerning the resumption of Israeli army motion in Gaza.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson insisted “all parties, including Israel, must respect international humanitarian law”.

“We’re clear that Israel must have security, and Hamas cannot play any role in the future of Gaza, but we must see the talks urgently resume, the ceasefire agreement to implement in full and see permanent peace worked towards.”

Mr Kapos described protesting as “exerting pressure through numbers to make it clear that all this will have electoral consequences”.

Mr Kapos additionally wished to focus on how the demonstrations “are not hate marches” and “are not no-go areas for Jews, which is again claimed”.

The Met argues protesters allegedly breached Public Order Act situations that had been in place through the 18 January demonstration, which had been communicated prematurely. They say the situations required these collaborating to stay in Whitehall, however a “large group” made its approach into Trafalgar Square and in some circumstances tried to go additional.

A Met Police spokesperson mentioned: “As part of our ongoing investigation into alleged breaches of Public Order Act conditions on Saturday, 18 January we have invited a further eight people to be interviewed under caution at a police station.

“While we are aware of names being attributed to those who have been invited for interview, we do not confirm the identity of anyone under investigation.”

For authorized causes, Mr Kapos was unable to supply particulars on his police interview, or if the precise causes behind why he was summoned had been disclosed to him.

However, that day, Mr Kapos was amongst a bunch of demonstrators who carried flowers to put down in Trafalgar Square to recollect the greater than 48,000 Palestinians who’ve to this point been killed, in response to Gaza’s well being officers, since Hamas’s assault on Israel on 7 October 2023. Hamas militants killed 1,200 folks and took 251 hostages, in response to Israeli tallies.

According to the Stop the War Coalition, the entire activists who obtained police letters calling them in for questioning by the Met had been amongst that group.

More than 50 MPs and friends, in addition to commerce union leaders and authorized specialists, had been amongst those that wrote to dwelling secretary Yvette Cooper on the time, demanding an unbiased inquiry into the ways utilized by the Met on the 18 January protest.

A gaggle of 40 “extremely shocked” Holocaust survivors or descendants of Holocaust survivors have now written an open letter condemning the police’s questioning of Mr Kapos.

It reads: “Any repression of the right to protest is bad enough – but to persecute a Jewish 87-year-old whose Holocaust experiences compel him to speak out against the Gaza genocide, is quite appalling.”

Mark Etkind, co-organiser of Holocaust survivors and descendants in opposition to the Gaza genocide, is amongst these denouncing the power’s “over-policing” of the continued pro-Palestine protests usually, describing it as “terrifying, not just for the Palestine movement, but for anyone who wants to protest and believes in British democracy”.

Holocaust survivor Dr Agnes Kory was additionally amongst these supporting Mr Kapos exterior Charing Cross Police Station on Friday and issued a powerful condemnation of Israel’s assault on Gaza.

She mentioned: “In the name of a Holocaust survivor, which is me, and a Holocaust researcher, which is also me, I say no, not in our names, and I have to be at the forefront of peace for Palestine movements.”

In a report earlier this month, United Nations specialists mentioned Israel carried out “genocidal acts” in opposition to Palestinians by systematically destroying girls’s healthcare amenities through the battle in Gaza, and used sexual violence as a battle technique.

Israel’s everlasting mission to the UN in Geneva rejected the accusations and described allegations within the report as unfounded, bias, and missing credibility.