Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters pack out London's Liverpool Street station in rush hour demo
More than 500 Pro-Palestine protesters packed out London Liverpool Street during rush-hour on Tuesday evening.
Demonstrators could be seen clapping, cheering and chanting amid a sea of Palestinian flags as commuters tried to make their way through the crowds.
The feminist group Sisters Uncut has seemingly organised the sit-in, according to their social media posts on X, formally known as Twitter. It claims "hundreds of commuters joined" the mass action.
They claimed to have "shut down" the station but Network Rail said it was able to keep the station open and had "no issues operationally".
Members from other activist groups including the Palestinian Youth Movement and International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network also spoke at the demonstration.
Sisters Uncut wrote: "End international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians. Ceasefire now."
The phrases "Palestine will be free" and "ceasefire now" can be heard at the protest.
CEASEFIRE NOW! 🚨🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/hyilf6Ea8o
— Sisters Uncut (@SistersUncut) October 31, 2023
The British Transport Police said later on Tuesday: "Our officers dealt with a protest earlier this evening at Liverpool Street station. The station is back to normal operations.
"Anyone wishing to make a report related to the protest at Liverpool Street can text 61016 or call 0800 40 50 40 with reference 324 of 31 October 2023."
BTP assistant chief constable Sean O'Callaghan said: "BTP became aware earlier in the day that a protest may occur in the station and ensured sufficient officers were at the station to respond to any incidents.
"Despite some claims being made in social media, no time was Liverpool Street Station locked down or services disrupted.
"BTP officers worked with railway colleagues to ensure the safety of all concerned and allowed passengers to continue to travel as normal on the trains."
Transport Secretary Mark Harper posted on X: "The situation earlier this evening at Liverpool Street Station will have been of concern to many people.
"I've been in contact with @BTP and will be meeting officers later this week. Everyone should feel safe when using our rail network."
The protest came after more than 200 people staged another sit-in on the concourse at London Waterloo station on Saturday.
One video reportedly showed protesters chanting "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" - a chant which Home Secretary Suella Braverman has previously criticised as an antisemitic demand for the destruction of Israel. Other groups dispute that interpretation of the chant.
Ms Braverman has come under fire for recently calling pro-Palestine demonstrations "hate marches".
She said: “We’ve seen now tens of thousands of people take to the streets following the massacre of Jewish people, the single largest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust, chanting for the erasure of Israel from the map.
“To my mind there is only one way to describe those marches: they are hate marches.”
Labour shadow minister Sir Chris Bryant responded on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Her comments yesterday were absolutely reprehensible. Saying every single person in those marches was involved in a hate march, well that patently isn’t true and it makes it more difficult for police to do their job properly.”
Ms Braverman has previously spoken about criminalising the Palestinian flag and the phrase "from the river to the sea".