SINGER ROW
Five arrests as pro-Palestine & pro-Israel protesters clash in London – after Charlotte Church joined thousands on march
It comes after the 38-year-old singer led a choir in a chant of From the River to the Sea
FIVE arrests have been as pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters clashed in London - after Charlotte Church joined thousands on a march.
Welsh singer Charlotte led thousands of marchers calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
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Five people were arrested at the march, including a man "carrying a shield and wearing a helmet".
But Scotland Yard said there was "no significant public order disturbance in any protest today".
Charlotte said she is marching to "show solidarity with the people of Palestine for all that they are suffering through".
She told the rally: "I am here today to call for an immediate ceasefire, to ask our Government and governments all over the world to send as strong message as we possibly can.
"But a strong, a peaceful a loving message, that's what every single march that I've been on for Palestine has been about.
"There's been singing there's been drumming, yes, there's been emotion.
"But in the majority that emotion has been love, has been compassion because that's why we're all here.
"We're all here because we cannot bear what we're witnessing. We cannot bear to see civilians, children, women slaughtered.
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"And so we are here because our hearts are so full of love for the Palestinian people."
Church addressed the accusations of antisemitism in a live broadcast on Instagram last month.
She said: "Just to clarify my intentions there, I am in no way antisemitic.
"I am fighting for the liberation of all people. I have a deep heart for all religions and all difference.
"It was a beautiful, beautiful event. But unfortunately, the powers that be can't have that.
"They can't have such a powerful symbol of resistance as what we worked towards on Saturday."
Church confirmed the gig had ended with a chant of the words "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free".
The chant references Israel which lies between the River Jordan in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.
The chant is highly controversial as many people see it as calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.
The event was raising cash for the Middle East Children’s Alliance charity.
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More than 30,000 civilians have been killed by Israeli bombing in Gaza since the Hamas massacre on October 7 last year.
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