"Remigration", "croisades": à Londres, des dizaines de milliers de sympathisants de l'extrême droite ont défilé
Tens of thousands of supporters of anti-immigration and anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson marched in London on Saturday, in a sea of British flags, while a pro-Palestinian and anti-racist march took place in parallel.
The police had put in place an exceptionally large-scale law enforcement operation, with nearly 4,000 officers mobilized to prevent any disturbances, while the FA Cup final was also taking place, won by Manchester City against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in front of 90,000 spectators.
Police made 43 arrests during the two demonstrations, and 22 more during the final, they said in an updated tally on Saturday evening.
"Four officers were attacked today. Fortunately, none were seriously injured. Six other officers were also victims of hate crimes," London police said on the X platform.
Supporters of Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, had gathered on the esplanade next to the British Parliament, listening to far-right activists, musicians and Christian preachers take turns at the podium.
With this demonstration called "Unite The Kingdom", this very popular activist on X, who has done several prison stays, had the ambition to reproduce the success of his march in September, which had seen up to 150,000 people flock to London to defend "freedom of expression".
Police had not yet released any estimates of participation by the evening, but aerial images broadcast by British media showed tens of thousands of people at the rally.
This rally is not affiliated with the anti-immigration Reform UK party. However, it took place a week after the electoral success achieved in local elections by Nigel Farage's party, which is leading in the polls for the next general election scheduled for 2029.
Draped in the Union Jack, 81-year-old Dennis Evans is "happy" that his ideas are gaining increasing support.
"Tommy Robinson is a patriot (...) who is working to revive the English spirit," says this retiree, who tells AFP that he is in favor of "remigration," a policy of mass expulsion of foreign people or people of foreign origin.
"The main aspect I support is the protection of women and children," explained the young British-Polish woman, Amelia Stearn, who flew in from Poland. "Illegal immigration is really wreaking havoc" in the UK, she said.
- "To go back on a crusade" -
Activists from the French identitarian collective Némésis, including its president Alice Cordier, also took to the stage, dressed in niqabs to denounce "Islamism in Europe".
In the crowd, some brandish crosses and portraits of Jesus, and all chant in unison, praising him, galvanized by the preachers on stage. Others, dressed in tunics and knights' helmets, urge people to "go back on crusade."
"We are an island. We have a well-defined border, which is not protected. Something has to be done," says Christine Turner, a 66-year-old retiree from the north of England, referring to the arrival of migrants crossing the Channel in makeshift boats.
Armored vehicles, drones and helicopters, as well as live facial recognition cameras - a first for a demonstration - were deployed for the occasion.
Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday described the organizers of the demonstration as "thugs" and "convicted racists who spread hatred and division".
- "Racists out of our streets"
Measures had been taken to keep Tommy Robinson's supporters and participants in a pro-Palestinian march, who numbered several thousand, at a distance, according to an AFP journalist.
This demonstration was organized to commemorate the "Nakba", "catastrophe" in Arabic, a period during which approximately 760,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes during the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and to oppose the far right.
"Racists out of our streets, refugees welcome," chanted the participants, many of whom wore keffiyehs and waved Palestinian flags.
For one of them, Heather Booker, "it is very worrying that there is a real rise in racism and fascism in Britain and across Europe".
These gatherings are taking place as the United Kingdom raised its terrorist threat level by one notch in early May, to "severe", citing a rise in the "Islamist and far-right threat".
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