Met Police officers have been filmed seemingly refusing to acknowledge Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation before one says ‘your opinion is your opinion’.
The clip was snapped at a pro-Palestinian protest in London, and has since garnered fury online.
Officers, when questioned by a concerned spectator, replied that it was an ‘opinion’ that the Lebanese group is a proscribed organisation.
The protest on September 28 was vigil for the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nesrallah, who was killed a day earlier.
One male officer remarked that he doesn’t ‘take a lot of political interest’ because he isn’t allowed to.
This is the shocking moment Met Police officers ‘refuse to acknowledge Hezbollah are terrorists’
The officers were snapped at a pro-Palestinian protest in London on September 28
Met Police have now released a statement on the matter
He continued: ‘Your opinion is up to you… your opinion is your opinion.’
Metropolitan Police said it ‘understood’ why the clip, shared online, had caused concerns, while confirming officers were supposed to be briefed on proscribed groups.
Campaign Against Antisemitism posted the footage to their X account, writing: ‘Here is newly-emerged jaw-dropping footage from London’s Trafalgar Square on 28th September, where a vigil for Hizballah’s leader was taking place in broad daylight.
‘The video shows what happened when someone tried to inform the police that Hizballah is a terrorist organisation.
‘How is the Metropolitan Police supposed to protect us when they don’t actually educate their officers on the law?’
In a statement, Met Police said: ‘The proscribed status of Hezbollah, Hamas and other groups is included in the briefings given to the officers deployed to police related events, but we recognise this video shows we need to do more to make sure the details of those briefings are fully understood.’
It said that the event was promoted as a ‘vigil for Lebanon’, not a vigil for the late Hezbollah leader.
It added: ‘Attendance was limited and officers were in the area throughout in order to identify any offences, including support for proscribed organisations.’
It comes as pro-Palestinian protesters marched on the streets of Birmingham on Sunday afternoon dressed as Hamas terrorists.
Demonstrators were seen wearing military outfits, including gloves, hats and chest guards with the words ‘free Palestine’ written across, in a chilling reenactment of the October 7 attacks last year.
One protester was shown donning a mask with the colours of the Palestinian flag while speaking through a loudspeaker.
The march processed down Coventry Road in Small Heath, east of the city centre.
It comes amid several expressions of support for Hamas and other proscribed terrorist groups in the Middle East on protests.
A masked protester (left) was filmed walking through the streets of Birmingham dressed as a terrorist
One demonstrator was seen wearing a black military outfit, complete with gloves, hat and a face mask with the colours of the Palestinian flag
A woman on a pro-Palestinian demonstration in central London last Saturday was heard seemingly calling out ‘We love Hamas’.
The footage was captured as thousands marched in the capital as thousands calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.
The protest, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, came just days before the anniversary of the October 7 attack, in which Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people, while taking another 250 hostage.
The latest incident in Birmingham on Sunday afternoon comes a day after Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement.
Online users responded with horror at the latest display of support for terrorists.
One wrote: ‘This is blatantly open support for the massacre and rape of civilians. When are the useful idiots attending these ‘demonstrations’ going to wake up to what they are encouraging and enabling?’
The protesters were filmed marching down Coventry Road in the Small Heath area, east of the city centre
Another commented: ‘If they really wanted to look like Hamas fighters they should have buried themselves under a huge pile of rubble.’
A spokesperson for West Midlands Police said: ‘We closely monitored the protest in Birmingham today which passed peacefully but will review any incidents.
‘We had a number of officers in the city engaging with the public while the protest took place.
‘We will continue to use best judgement to assess each scenario on its merits and police demonstrations without fear or favour, while working with communities to listen to their concerns.’
It comes as a shocking YouGov poll of 2,615 adults commissioned by CAA and published this week reveals that almost one in ten 18 to 24-year-olds ‘have a favourable view of Hamas’, compared to 3 per cent among the general British public.
The survey also found that 13 per cent of young British adults do not believe Hamas killed around 1,200 Israelis on the attacks of 7 October 2023.
On antisemitic attitudes, one third of the British public ‘believes that Israel treats the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews’ – with this figure rising to 48 per cent among 18 to 24-year-olds.
One in five in Britain believe supporters of Israel ‘control the media’, while one in ten believe that, compared to other groups, ‘Jewish people have too much power in the media.’
The YouGov survey was designed in collaboration with Campaign Against Antisemitism and using the Generalised Antisemitism Scale.
CAA said: ‘Extremism is becoming normalised in our country, and as ever Jews are the canaries in the coal mine.
‘This week marks one year since the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, but here in Britain we need to turn our attention to the home front, where British society is changing before our eyes.
‘Most alarming of all, our young people are becoming radicalised at a far greater rate than the rest of the population, sympathising with terrorists and espousing extreme anti-Jewish racism.
‘If the authorities continue to let radicalism run rampant on campuses and on social media, it will not be long before we are looking over our shoulders at generation hate.’
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