The Home Secretary Suella Braverman has spoken out against the "intimidating mob" that participated in pro-Palestine marches at weekend, taking pains to point out the true meaning of "From the river to the sea", the slogan chanted by many demonstrators.

On Saturday, thousands of pro-Palestine protesters took to the streets of London and chanted the rallying cry, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free", which calls for the elimination of the state of Israel, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

In a thread posted on X/Twitter, Braverman said: “Last weekend an intimidating mob marched through London chanting 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' - a slogan that is widely understood as a demand for the destruction of Israel. Attempts to pretend otherwise are disingenuous.

“It means the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea - the boundaries of Israel - and comes from the dark days when most Palestinian groups sought to eliminate Israel. It was dropped by mainstream organisations after Israel and the PLO [Palestinian Liberation Organisation] made peace with the 1993 Oslo Accords." 

Last weekend an intimidating mob marched through London chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” - a slogan that is widely understood as a demand for the destruction of Israel. Attempts to pretend otherwise are disingenuous. 1/3

— Suella Braverman MP (@SuellaBraverman) October 16, 2023

Braverman, whose husband is Jewish, continued: “The slogan was taken up by Islamists, including Hamas, and remains a staple of antisemitic discourse. To hear it shouted in public causes alarm not just to Jews but to all decent people. Those who promote hate on Britain’s streets should realise that our tolerance has limits.”

More than 1,000 police officers were deployed in London for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign march, and 15 people were arrested for offences including assaults on police and for setting off fireworks.

Some of the protestors marching down Regent Street were seen with illustrations of paratroopers attached to their clothes, in what was widely understood to be a reference to Hamas terrorists who used improvised aerial craft to infiltrate Israel on Saturday October 7.