https://arab.news/yqrpa
LONDON: Footage of a London Underground train driver leading a chant of “Free, free Palestine” posted to social-media platform X on Saturday has gone viral.
The video shows dozens of people packed into a carriage of a busy Central Line train heading to Saturday’s pro-Palestine demonstrations in the British capital.
Passengers told the Mail Online that the driver explained to passengers he wanted to join the protest, but was unable to get the time off.
“Sorry I can’t join your protest today,” the driver was reported as saying. “I couldn’t get the day off work, but you have my full support. Join me in chanting ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’”
Some on social media criticized the driver for “whipping up mob feeling” and called for him to be sacked. However, others said the atmosphere on board had been friendly and were quick to defend his actions, calling the driver “amazing” and “a legend.”
Thousands of demonstrators marched in London to call for Israel to be pressured to stop its bombardment of Gaza as the Israel-Hamas war entered its third week, in which time thousands of Palestinians have been killed or wounded and nearly a million internally displaced.
Waving Palestinian flags, participants demanded an end to Israel’s blockade and airstrikes launched in the wake of a brutal incursion into southern Israel by Hamas militants, which killed nearly 1,400 people.