A pro-Palestine protester has caused outrage by dressing up as a Holocaust victim at a protest in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Activist Maria Gallastegui was seen wearing a striped uniform that hearkens back to those worn by the tragic victims of the Holocaust at concentration camps in Nazi-occupied Europe.
But instead of the Star of David, Gallastegui placed a star and crescent, a symbol often associated with Islam.
She also held a sign referring to Palestine Action, which was designated a terror group following a stunt at an RAF airbase that saw its members
While 13 people were arrested and seven people were charged following Monday’s protest in solidarity with Palestine Action in the heart of London, Gallastegui was not one of them.
According to the Telegraph, 66-year-old Gallastegui is a full-time protester who left her life as a coach driver behind nearly 20 years ago.
Over the past two decades, she has reportedly been arrested several times – including once during a demonstration for the right to protest in August 2005.
She became infamous for living in a tent in Parliament Square for six years after joining a campaign against proposals to restrict protests in front of the Houses of Parliament.
Gallastegui was also interviewed by the BBC in 2021 over a live-in protest that saw her sleep in a 150-year-old tree in Hackney that was set to be felled to make way for a 600-home development.
She said at the time: ‘We are passionate people. Any campaign that we can think of doesn’t start overnight. There are a lot of underlying issues that the system is not dealing with.’
Monday’s protest saw Palestine Action activists clash with police in ugly scenes during a mass protest in London as the Government moves to proscribe the group as a terrorist organisation.
Hundreds of protesters waving Palestinian flags and holding placards gathered at Trafalgar Square as the group’s leaders called for an ’emergency mobilisation’ in response to the Government’s plans.
The Palestine Action protest came just days after two of its members broke into RAF Brize Norton and damaged two military planes in a stunt condemned by MPs including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
It is feared one engine of a plane targeted at Britain’s largest RAF base is damaged beyond repair and could cost £25million to replace.
The group, whose Brize Norton ambush is being treated by counter-terrorism police, have conducted 356 attacks on sites across the UK in the last five years – with Ms Cooper revealing the damage caused is ‘running into the millions of pounds’.
Monday’s demonstration was initially due to be staged outside Parliament but protesters were forced to descend on Trafalgar Square instead after the Metropolitan Police imposed an exclusion zone.
Protesters, some wearing black face coverings or Palestinian keffiyehs, were seen scuffling with police and shouting up close into their faces, with officers forced to drag activists out of the crowds.
Officers were seen surging into the crowd to detain masked protesters, prompting activists to respond by pushing back, throwing water and chanting at police.
Pro-Palestine protesters also clashed with a small group of pro-Israeli counter-demonstrators who were swiftly escorted out to the sound of jeers.
