Once again, cops have been arrested Youth Demand supporters under dodgy pre-crime laws introduced by the Tories. On the flip side, it shows that the group has clearly got the British state worried – and good job it has.
Youth Demand: swarming and causing a ‘public nuisance’
Youth Demand supporters gathered at Russell Square on Saturday 12 April to take part in ‘open swarming’. The group are calling for the UK government to impose a total trade embargo on Israel, and make the super rich and fossil fuel elite pay damages to communities and countries most harmed by fossil fuel burning.
Around 50 Youth Demand supporters stepped into the road at Elephant and Castle with banners and smoke flares at approximately 12:45pm:
The group left the road at around 1:20pm.
One supporter was arrested for breach of Section 7 of the Public Order Act, after having already left the road. A further group of around 26 disrupted Hyde Park Corner at around 1:55pm for approximately 15 minutes, with supporters dispersing when requested by police.
The groups converged and disrupted Vauxhall Bridge north crossing at 2:30pm:
Shockingly, a further seven supporters were arrested at around 2:50pm as the group left the road. As Youth Demand put on its Insta, three of these were after the event. Cops arrested them for suspected ‘conspiracy to cause a public nuisance’. This is the same offence that police have used to arrest other Youth Demand supporters in recent weeks.
The real public nuisance is Starmer
One of those arrested was co-founder Sam. He said:
The real public nuisance is Starmer who is licensing arms sales to Israel to drop bombs on kids. They are also allowing fossil fuels meaning that billions of people will be starved to death in the coming decades.
The only way we can change this is by being in civil resistance. We need everyone to sign up at youthdemand.org. This is the only way to stop the mass genocide.
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Saturday’s actions come against a backdrop of Israel’s ongoing killing and forcible displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, coupled with the routine denial of access for aid and of medical evacuations.
Israel’s defence minister has said it will expand its so-called “security zones” in Gaza to include the southern city of Rafah. According to the UN two-thirds of Gaza has been designated as “no-go” zones or placed under evacuation orders since Israel resumed its offensive against Hamas on 18 March following the collapse of a two-month ceasefire. This has left 390,000 Palestinians — almost a fifth of the 2.1 million population — with no safe place to go.
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned of more disease and deaths due to Israel’s blockade of aid entering Gaza where more than 10,000 people need medical evacuation abroad and at least 60,000 children are malnourished. He said 75% of UN missions in Gaza last week were denied or impeded.
Youth Demand: Israel is a menace
Israel has persistently denied that its political leaders or military have committed war crimes during its assault on Gaza, in which it has killed more than 50,000 people, most of them civilians. The UK continues to support genocide by supplying arms, whilst conducting more surveillance flights on behalf of Israel over Gaza than any other country.
A Youth Demand spokesperson said:
We’ve tried the marches, petitions and rallies for over a year and a half now. It hasn’t worked. The government only cares about disruption. That’s why we are shutting London down day after day. There is no time to lose, two million Palestinians are starving. They are being pushed into smaller and smaller death zones in Gaza. Business-as-usual enables this genocide, so we have a duty to shut it down.
We must resist.
Unfortunately for the cops and the state – but fortunately for anyone with an ounce of moral fibre – Youth Demand will be continuing its actions next week.
Featured image and additional images supplied
