UK protests continue against genocide-apologist Tzipi Hotovely – and Ireland shows they can work

Ireland has decided to contribute to the ongoing International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Predictably, Israel has responded with a tantrum, withdrawing from its embassy in the country and launching bogus antisemitism allegations at its people. The question now is, could Israel also withdraw its genocide-apologist ambassador to Britain too? And protesters in the UK are hoping their unfaltering efforts can help to make that happen.

The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) has been committing time every week to protesting against far-right ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, who has previously egged on the genocide in Gaza. And faithful to its mission, the group will be outside Hotovely’s residence in London yet again this Friday from 5.30pm to 6.30pm:

Join us every Friday 5.30 – 6.30pm near @TzipiHotovely residence at Swiss Cottage Tube, London to demand her expulsion. The movement expelled the Israeli ambassador in Dublin. She is next. https://t.co/AtRm0Eoy63

— IJAN (@IJAN_Network) December 17, 2024

Ireland puts Britain to shame over Israel

As the Irish Law Society Gazette reported on 11 December:

The Government has approved a plan for Ireland to intervene in South Africa’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Israel under the Genocide Convention.

It added that:

Filing of the intervention will take place at the court in The Hague later this month.

And it explained that:

Ireland would be asking the ICJ to broaden its interpretation of what constituted the commission of genocide by a State.

In response to this decision, Israel chose to shut its embassy in Ireland. This came months after the apartheid state recalled its ambassador temporarily following a move by Ireland, Norway, and Spain to recognise Palestinian statehood earlier in the year. As Al Jazeera wrote on 17 December:

Even if their actions sometimes fall short, Ireland and Irish politicians have provided vocal criticism of Israel throughout its war on Gaza, reflecting a feeling polls show to be widespread across a society that finds much in Palestinian history to mirror its own.

As diplomatic tensions rose between Ireland and Israel, one particularly crazy response was the Times of Israel publishing a blog post with the title “Why the Irish hate the Jews”. This included the claim that “Christianity is inherently antisemitic”.

From Chicago, America. Therein lies the problem of a settler-coloniser mindset mixed with their supremacism, racism, sectarianism… and nonsense if you read this tripe #clickbait https://t.co/SPAOV7Z2BK pic.twitter.com/XNIKrvSht4

— Ciarán MacAirt (@ciaranmacairt) December 17, 2024

The Times of Israel seemed to rethink its decision later, apparently taking the post down.

Keep standing up

The IJAN previously promised to continue its protests until the UK followed the example of other countries by expelling its Israeli ambassador:

One year of uninterrupted protest to expel the Israeli ambassador @TzipiHotovely : '84% of British public think Netanyahu should be arrested if he comes to the UK. 11 countries have already expelled their Israeli ambassadors. Our protest will continue until the UK does the same.’ pic.twitter.com/11JJSQNyvK

— IJAN (@IJAN_Network) October 31, 2024

The event has been growing in size, and the police would hate it if it grew even more. In fact, police have sought to crack down on courageous activists – Jewish and non-Jewish alike – who are opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Haim Bresheeth, for example, is a 79-year-old Jewish peace activist and an “advanced cancer patient with a serious heart condition”. His parents survived the Holocaust. He grew up in Israel, and fighting in two wars for the country turned him into a pacifist.

And in early November, police arrested him because he now opposes Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and its decades-long oppression of Palestinian people.

He had spoken at a weekly IJAN protest, as SKWAWKBOX reported, making factual critiques of Israel’s “colonialism, racism and violence, including the mass murder of civilians”. Despite his arrest, though, Bresheeth is not backing down.

Demonstrations take place weekly at Swiss Cottage (near the Israeli ambassador’s home in London), usually at 5.30pm.

Featured image via the Canary