Protesters shout ‘shame on you’ after south London council votes against Gaza ceasefire

Angry pro-Palestinian protesters were escorted out of a town hall, shouting “shame on you” after a south London council voted against a call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The group stood up and unfurled Palestinian flags in the public gallery at a Lambeth Council meeting on Wednesday night after Labor councilors voted against a Green Party motion calling for “an immediate ceasefire and an end to human rights atrocities in Israel/ Palestine. conflict”.

Two Labor councillors, Cllr Martin Abrams, member for Streatham St Leonard’s and Cllr Sonia Winifred, ward member for Knight’s Hill, rebelled to join Green Party councilors Nicole Griffiths and Scott Ainslie in voting in favor of the motion.

Matthew Bryant, Liberal Democrat member for Streatham Hill West and Thornton, also voted in favor of the motion asking the council’s Labor leader Claire Holland to write to Premier Rishi Sunak and Labor leader Keir Starmer urging them to ceasefire.

Cllr Claire Holland shook her head in the direction of the protesters as Mayor Sarbaz Barznji ordered the full council meeting suspended for 10 minutes while the demonstrators were cleared away. Deputy council leader Danny Adilypour appeared to be filming a video of the protesters on his phone.

Before the meeting began, Lambeth Labor released a statement accusing the Green Party of “divisive” communities in the borough with the motion. The statement said the motion “created a false narrative that Lambeth Council – a civic institution – has the power or influence to affect an international conflict”.

He continued: “The Labor Party has now called for a humanitarian ceasefire. Not as a short break, but as the first step that will stop the killing of innocents, provide urgent humanitarian aid, free hostages and provide the space for a lasting ceasefire so that fighting does not resume.”

Ahead of the council meeting, pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside Lambeth Town Hall in Brixton, some waving Palestinian flags and holding signs reading “Stop Israel’s war crimes” and “Freedom for Palestine”.

The protesters had hoped to make a speech presenting their demands at the council meeting, but their request to bring a deputation was refused on the grounds that it was an issue for which the council had no responsibility.

Speaking anonymously outside the town hall, one of the protesters, a member of the Labor Party, said: “We are very disappointed by the council’s reaction. They showed their support for the people of Ukraine, why can’t they show their support for the people of Gaza? We are very disappointed that they refused the deputation.”