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In Durham, Newcastle and York, thousands took to the streets as part of the Stop the War coalition’s nationwide Day of Action for Palestine, making four consecutive weeks of demonstrations since the start of the war in October.
This comes as the UK has pressed for the Rafah crossing, a key border point, to reopen to allow trapped Britons out of Gaza.
Though the majority of protesters were lawful and peaceful, police in York reported an “isolated incident of inappropriate chanting”.
In York, protesters waved flags and held placards as they marched from St Helen’s Square through the city’s streets at 2pm.
They chanted “free Palestine” and called for a ceasefire.
Among those at the protest was York Central MP Rachael Maskell who gave a speech to the crowd in St Helen’s Square.
In Newcastle, protestors held bloodied dolls aloft during the march.
In Durham, more than two hundred people joined the march. They gathered in front of Durham Cathedral, before marching to Framwellgate Bridge, to show support for the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped in Gaza without access to basic vital resources.
A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said: “We’re pleased to say the policing operation to facilitate a peaceful and lawful protest in the centre of York today (Saturday 4 November) was carried out without any major incident.
“There was an isolated incident of inappropriate chanting by a small minority. However, this was dealt with swiftly by officers.
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“Over 400 people were in attendance and the vast majority of protestors passed through the city centre peacefully.
“Anyone has the right to peaceful and lawful protest and the police service’s role is to ensure it passes peacefully and lawfully, while balancing it with the rights of others, seeking to minimise disruption and keep the public safe.”
The Durham march was organised by County Durham Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who said: “We came out here today to join hundreds of thousands of people across the country to call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza.
“The huge loss of life has already been an unjustifiable tragedy, and every day that the bombing continues, hundreds of innocent civilian Palestinians are being killed.
“Communities all over the world, including here in Durham, are coming together to demand an end to the violence.”
Four police officers were injured and 29 people were arrested after thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
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