Fury at Palestine protester clutching blood-soaked effigy of dead baby sparking ‘hate crime’ probe

FURY erupted yesterday as footage emerged of a ­protester clutching a blood-soaked effigy of a dead baby on a pro-Palestine march in London.

Police put out an appeal to find two women at the centre of the sick stunt — but only hours after it was highlighted on social media video.

The incident happened under the noses of some of the 1,000 cops.
Meanwhile shocking video footage on X/Twitter also showed around ten bloodied baby effigies being bounced up and down on a giant Palestine flag in the demo.

The women being hunted and other demonstrators chanted anti-Semitic slogans but escaped arrest despite a promised clampdown by Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

The pair appeared to smile as they sang ‘Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud’ which is a reference to the historic massacre of Jews at the battle of Khaybar in Saudi Arabia.

Ex-Met detective Peter Bleksley criticised his former force and ­politicians told of their anger at the hate scenes.

He raged: “This is sick behaviour. The Met said they would crackdown on this sort of thing and quite simply they haven’t. It’s appalling.”

Crossbench peer John Woodcock, the Government’s adviser on political violence, said: “The use of a fake dead baby deliberately evokes the most sickening of the atrocities inflicted on Israelis by the Hamas terrorists.

"We must bring the perpetrators of this anti-Semitic crime to book and stand together to drive out the dark stain of Jewish hate that has reached too far into our communities.”

Tory MP Nigel Mills said: “The police should be making a stand and not relying on people on social media to tip them off.”

And Conservative MP and former Cabinet minister Simon Clarke added: “We should not have these scenes of hatred and bigotry on our streets.”

Releasing pictures of two women on its Twitter feed in relation to the anti-Semitic chants and baby effigy, the Met Police said: “Officers investigating a hate crime incident in Trafalgar Square would like to speak to these two women.”

The march, which called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, attracted more than 100,000 ­protesters and was the third ­consecutive rally in London.

One climbed on to the statue of ­Britain’s World War One Prime Minister David Lloyd George and set off a flare releasing red smoke.

A policeman did not intervene but gently told him: “You’ll be in trouble if you light anymore.”

Another waved a black and white flag, often used by jihadis, in full view of a nearby officer who did nothing to intervene.

David Hirsch, founder for the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism, said: “Some Londoners on the demo were thrilled by the 1,400 Hamas murders, like football fans are when their team wins.

“The joy of their victory lit up their faces. They taunted Jews with a religious certainty that there would be more Jew-killing soon.”

There were scuffles with police outside the gates of Downing Street as cops tried to detain a troublemaker.

Scotland Yard said two people were arrested and an officer hospitalised after being hit on the head with a loudspeaker.

More than 200 people staged a sit-in on the concourse of Waterloo station, forcing it to shut for ­commuters - in a repeat of a ­similar protest held earlier yesterday at New York’s Grand Central station.

The statue of World War One commander Field Marshal Douglas Haig in Whitehall was defaced with red paint with the words “God Save Gaza”.

There were plenty of placards accusing Israel of crimes as the march snaked through London across a rammed Westminster Bridge. One read: “Israel is a terror state.”

Kids as young as five were also chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free” as booklets praising Hamas and its “military struggle” against Israel were being handed out.

"Police said they launched a probe after we uncovered the shocking material being given out at a rally at Bristol University last week.

But the pamphlet, which describes the terror group as a “resistance movement”, was on full display on a table yesterday’.

It was flagged to The Met on X, formerly Twitter, with officers saying they were keen to speak to the person who had brought it to their attention.

Several Labour politicians, including Jeremy Corbyn supporters Andy McDonald and Zarah ­Sultana, attended the demo.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley held talks during the week with Ms Braverman after being asked to explain why his officers did not arrest a man who was recorded shouting “Jihad” at a ­protest last Saturday.

She urged the Met Police to use the “full force of the law”.

Ahead of yesterday’s march, police chiefs would not commit to detaining on the spot any Hamas-backing extremists who again call for “jihad” against Israel.

The protests — repeated in cities around Britain — came as the ­Middle East moved into a new phase of conflict.

There has been a surge in hate crime during the war.

The Met yesterday confirmed there had been 408 recorded ­anti- Semitic offences in the capital so far this month.

Meanwhile, thousands of pro- Palestine demonstrators gathered in Manchester city centre.

They waved flags, let off flares and held banners showing the faces of children injured in bombings, while chanting to free Palestine.

One speaker added “Palestinian lives matter, Israeli lives matter”, and “Palestinians have had enough”.

Protesters briefly stopped along the route outside Barclays, ­Starbucks, Costa and Primark — all establishments they have accused of supporting Israel’s war effort.

A group of women unfurled a banner which read “Stop arming Israel”, next to the city’s library.