‘They will never erase our dead’: Fury as chants of ‘Free Palestine’ can be heard over vigil for Israeli victims as names of the dead are read out by mourners

• Heidi Bachram shared video of the memorial where victims were honoured

Chants of ‘Free Palestine’ were shouted ‘over and over’ as the names of dead Israeli victims were read out at a poignant memorial. 

Heidi Bachram shared video on X last night of a vigil where supporters stood surrounded by candles and flowers to pay their respects to those who have lost their lives in Israel at the hands of Hamas. 

But as the names of victims were read out through a microphone, Ms Bachram said the words ‘Free Palestine’ were ‘screamed’ repeatedly by Palestinian supporters. 

She told how they ‘kept reading the names,’ adding defiantly – ‘they will never erase our dead.’ 

‘We read the names of the dead. They screamed ‘Free Palestine’ as though murdering 1400 people would,’ Ms Bachram wrote. 

‘They shouted it over and over and we kept reading the names. One came in a balaclava and pulled over the table. We kept reading the names.’

‘Free Palestine’ was heard being shouted in the background of video footage as names of dead Israeli victims were read out at a vigil

Heidi Bachram claimed a boy in a balaclava knocked down a table at the vigil 

Ms Bachram claimed a boy in a balaclava ‘smashed down a table’ at the vigil but that mourners picked it up and carried on. 

‘Hatikvah was sung at the end. Powerful. Beautiful. We read the names of the dead and they did not stop us,’ she added. 

The video was shared as a Cabinet minister said there will be ‘ongoing discussions’ after police gave the go-ahead for a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to take place on Armistice Day.

On Tuesday, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley resisted pressure heaped on the force by politicians including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to try to block a pro-Palestinian gathering in London on Saturday.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay, who insisted the rally will be ‘provocative’, told Sky News: ‘I think there’ll be ongoing discussions on this.

‘There is a legal threshold and the Commissioner is of the view that that legal threshold has not been met.

‘Obviously, the Home Office and colleagues will discuss that over the course of the day.’

Ms Bachram said they picked up a table that had been knocked over and carried on with their service

Photos shared by Ms Bachram at the scene of the memorial 

In a statement on Tuesday, Sir Mark said intelligence surrounding the potential for serious disorder this weekend does not meet the threshold to apply to prohibit the march.

‘The laws created by Parliament are clear. There is no absolute power to ban protest, therefore there will be a protest this weekend,’ he said.

He added that use of the power to block moving protests is ‘incredibly rare’ and must be reserved for cases where there is intelligence to suggest a ‘real threat’ of serious disorder.

Read more: Ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn confirms he will attend controversial pro-Palestine Armistice Day march in London despite fears of violence and damage to the Cenotaph 

He said organisers of Saturday’s rally have shown ‘complete willingness to stay away from the Cenotaph and Whitehall and have no intention of disrupting the nation’s remembrance events’.

‘Should this change, we’ve been clear we will use powers and conditions available to us to protect locations and events of national importance at all costs.’

The Met had urged march organisers to ‘urgently reconsider’ the event on Saturday because of a growing risk of violence, but the pro-Palestinian coalition behind it have refused to call it off.

The force could request the power to ban the event under Section 13 of the Public Order Act 1986, but that would only apply if there was the threat of serious public disorder which could not be controlled by other measures.

The coalition of groups, which includes the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War and the Muslim Association of Britain, insisted they will press ahead with the demonstration calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

There are concerns that breakaway groups from the main march could look for trouble, while counter-demonstrations may add to policing difficulties.

A smoke plume erupts during Israeli bombardment near a position along the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on November 8

Children search through buildings, destroyed during Israeli air raids in the southern Gaza Strip on November 8

The i newspaper reported that messages in one anti-Islamic WhatsApp group, containing more than 1,000 members, call on people to ‘fight back’ against pro-Palestinian protesters.

English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson has also spoken out, saying: ‘British men are mobilising for Saturday to be in London’ to ‘show our Government and show our police and show Hamas and everyone sitting around the world saying ‘Britain has fallen’ that there is a resistance’.

A call to arms has also been issued on social media by the Democratic Football Lads Alliance, a right-wing organisation that uses football fan networks to spread Islamophobic hate.

A post on the group’s Facebook page says: ‘Vets have reached out and asked for our support due to the threat from the far-left and pro-Palestinian supporters to disrupt the Remembrance Day parade.

‘We are calling on all football lads up and down the country to join us in standing shoulder to shoulder with our veterans that fought for our freedom.’

The planned route for the London march goes from Hyde Park – about a mile from the Cenotaph – to the US embassy in Vauxhall, south of the Thames.

The Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, which will be attended by the King and Queen and other members of the royal family, will take place on Saturday.

Remembrance Sunday events will take place at the Cenotaph in Westminster the following day.

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