London Police ‘Saw My Wheelchair as Greater Threat Than Hezbollah Terror Flag,’ Jewish Protester at ‘Al-Quds Day’ Rally Says
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by Algemeiner Staff
Mark Lewis halts the ‘Al-Quds Day’ 2018 march in London with his wheelchair. Photo: Twitter.
One of London’s top Jewish lawyers brought a howling demonstration of 1,000 hardline antisemites waving Hezbollah flags to a standstill on Sunday — and he didn’t need a court order.
Brave Mark Lewis, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, used his wheelchair to block the pro-Iranian protesters marking “Al-Quds Day” in central London by marching for the violent destruction of the State of Israel.
Lewis told the London Jewish News: “It wasn’t just me. My other half Mandy Blumenthal stayed with me. I knew that I couldn’t stand up and be counted but I could sit down.”
He said: “These people were supporting terrorists. We had to object and not give them a free pass. These are our streets. The government were allowing them a free rein, we had to stop them. I thought I’d challenge the police to see if they had a legal basis to stop me exercising my freedom to protest. They said they had an order blocking the street. I asked to see it. They looked flummoxed.”
When marchers did eventually set off after more than half an hour, chants of “From the river to the sea” — a call for the elimination of Israel — rang out as the protest passed the famous Ritz Hotel. Marchers were also heard to taunt pro-Israel demonstrators, saying they would see them “same time” next year.
In a later oped, Lewis condemned the British government for allowing the “Al-Quds Day” march to occur.
“Seriously, the police enforcing the will of the Home Secretary saw a wheelchair as a greater threat than a machine gun,” Lewis wrote, in a reference to the symbol on Hezbollah’s flag — which was again on display in London despite several pledges last year by UK authorities to ban it as a terrorist hate symbol.
“Before she was Prime Minister, Theresa May as Home Secretary said that the Al Quds march should be banned,” Lewis wrote. “She seems not to have passed the message on to her successors.”
A BIG SHOUT to my friend and legal representative @MLewisLawyer for halting the Al Quds march in his wheelchair. https://t.co/DbHgoOmKqY Mark is a DIVINE SOUL. Immensely proud of you Mark 🙏 @Mandyblumenthal
— El Diablo (@eldiablo0786) June 11, 2018
