Holocaust survivor, 87, questioned by police after laying flowers at Trafalgar Square during Gaza protest
Stephen Kapos was among nine people called in over 18 January pro-Palestine protest
An elderly Holocaust survivor has been questioned by police after he laid flowers at Trafalgar Square during a Gaza protest to commemorate the tens of thousands of Palestinians killed in the Israel-Hamas war.
Stephen Kapos, 87, was interviewed by the Metropolitan Police on Friday about the pro-Palestine protest on 18 January in central London – a demonstration the force faced accusations of “repressive and heavy-handed policing” over at the time.
Mr Kapos lived in hiding under the Nazi regime as a child in Budapest, Hungary, after he lost touch with his mother, and his father was taken to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
He is among nine people who have been called in by the Met for questioning after 77 people were arrested on the day of the protest. So far, 21 people have since been charged.
Speaking outside Charing Cross Police Station following his interview on Friday afternoon, Mr Kapos told The Independent he planned to continue marching for peace in Gaza, describing how “proud” he is that his family, including his son and grandchildren, also join him.
He said he wanted to disprove claims that “there is solid support from all Jews towards what's going on”.
Mr Kapos spoke surrounded by around 100 supporters, a number of whom were either Holocaust survivors or descendants of them. A banner reading “Holocaust survivor descendants against Gaza genocide!” was one of the signs being held up, while chants such as “We are all Palestinians” were called out by the crowd.
The grandfather stressed the importance of this during a week when Israel launched a fresh wave of attacks on the Gaza Strip, shattering the fragile ceasefire that had held for the past few weeks in a move he described as “horrifying”.
“The sort of killing that’s going on, it’s unbearable to watch and one wonders where it’s leading to because there is no defence to speak of. They are defenceless people out in the open.
“Their homes have been bombed to smithereens and they are in tents and now they are going to be bombed. It’s unbearable and I don’t understand how the world can stand it.
“And I’m ashamed of our government and everybody else who facilitates it and enables it.”
Mr Kapos strongly criticised the UK government’s response, calling for it to condemn Israel’s actions and to end all military contracts.
“They should at the very minimum condemn Israel’s actions, which they don’t do, and immediately stop all supplies of armaments and any other logistical and information support that they do give,” he said.
“All that should be stopped immediately because there’s no doubt about this being an atrocity and international crime, what’s going on, what’s perpetrated by Israel. So how can you hesitate in the face of that?”
Earlier this week Sir Keir Starmer said he was “deeply concerned” about the resumption of Israeli military action in Gaza.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson insisted “all parties, including Israel, must respect international humanitarian law”.
“We’re clear that Israel must have security, and Hamas cannot play any role in the future of Gaza, but we must see the talks urgently resume, the ceasefire agreement to implement in full and see permanent peace worked towards.”
Mr Kapos described protesting as “exerting pressure through numbers to make it clear that all this will have electoral consequences”.
Mr Kapos also wanted to highlight how the demonstrations “are not hate marches” and “are not no-go areas for Jews, which is again claimed”.
The Met argues protesters allegedly breached Public Order Act conditions that were in place during the 18 January demonstration, which were communicated in advance. They say the conditions required those taking part to remain in Whitehall, but a “large group” made its way into Trafalgar Square and in some cases attempted to go further.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “As part of our ongoing investigation into alleged breaches of Public Order Act conditions on Saturday, 18 January, we have invited a further eight people to be interviewed under caution at a police station.
“While we are aware of names being attributed to those who have been invited for interview, we do not confirm the identity of anyone under investigation.”
For legal reasons, Mr Kapos was unable to provide details on his police interview, or if the exact reasons behind why he was summoned were disclosed to him.
However, that day, Mr Kapos was among a group of demonstrators who carried flowers to lay down in Trafalgar Square to remember the more than 48,000 Palestinians who have so far been killed, according to Gaza's health officials, since Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
According to the Stop the War Coalition, all of the activists who received police letters calling them in for questioning by the Met were among that group.
More than 50 MPs and peers, as well as trade union leaders and legal experts, were among those who wrote to home secretary Yvette Cooper at the time, demanding an independent inquiry into the tactics used by the Met at the 18 January protest.
A group of 40 “extremely shocked” Holocaust survivors or descendants of Holocaust survivors have now written an open letter condemning the police’s questioning of Mr Kapos.
It reads: “Any repression of the right to protest is bad enough – but to persecute a Jewish 87-year-old whose Holocaust experiences compel him to speak out against the Gaza genocide is quite appalling.”
Mark Etkind, co-organiser of Holocaust survivors and descendants against the Gaza genocide, is among those denouncing the force’s “over-policing” of the ongoing pro-Palestine protests in general, describing it as “terrifying, not just for the Palestine movement, but for anyone who wants to protest and believes in British democracy”.
Holocaust survivor Dr Agnes Kory was also among those supporting Mr Kapos outside Charing Cross Police Station on Friday and issued a strong condemnation of Israel’s attack on Gaza.
She said: “In the name of a Holocaust survivor, which is me, and a Holocaust researcher, which is also me, I say no, not in our names, and I have to be at the forefront of peace for Palestine movements.”
In a report earlier this month, United Nations experts said Israel carried out “genocidal acts” against Palestinians by systematically destroying women’s healthcare facilities during the conflict in Gaza, and used sexual violence as a war strategy.
Israel’s permanent mission to the UN in Geneva rejected the accusations and described allegations in the report as unfounded, bias, and lacking credibility.
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