Protesters take to the streets in Northampton town centre to 'march for Palestine'

Protesters are taking to the streets of Northampton to march in solidarity with Palestine (May 22).

Crowds gathered outside BBC Radio Northampton at the top of Abington Street at 2pm for the scheduled march, which is supported by the Northamptonshire Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

The organisers of the protest - called 'March 4 Palestine' - are calling for the British government to condemn Israel for the ongoing events in the Middle East. They are also calling for Sheikh Jarrah - a mainly Palestinian neighbourhood in Jerusalem - to be saved, attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque to be stopped, for the sale of arms to Israel to be banned and for sanctions to be imposed on Israel.

A spokesperson for Northamptonshire Police said: "We are aware of crowds gathering in Northampton town centre at the top of Abington Street as part of a protest scheduled to take place this afternoon regarding events in the Middle East.

"We have been in touch with the organisers to ensure this is a peaceful event and will be monitoring it throughout the afternoon."

A message from the protest organisers on Facebook asks participants to adhere to social distancing, avoid using inappropriate language and letting off smoke bombs, burning flags or "any other kind of silly behaviour.

The message said: "If our Palestinian brothers and sisters can hold themselves with the utmost dignity out there so can we. Let’s all remember why we are doing this to amplify their voices and have a great day."

A similar protest took place last Saturday (May 15), which was organised by the Northamptonshire Palestine Solidarity Campaign. It follows after a small group of Northampton town centre councillors wrote to Andrew Lewer MP asking him to convince the Government to intervene in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

More to follow.