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A rally in Britain called on Sunday for an end to Israeli "occupation" and demanded justice for "killers of Gaza children" in a Quds Day gathering thousands of British demonstrators joined despite an attempt of fascist groups to disrupt the peaceful rally, British newspapers said.
Annual Al-Quds Day demonstration in Central London is held to show support for Palestinians by both Muslims and non-Muslims during Ramadan every year.
Supporters held up banners stating 'Justice for the murdered children of Gaza', 'We are all Palestinians' and 'Boycott Israel'.
An organizer, Raza Kazim, told Guardian that 'It's in aid of the oppressed people of Palestine in particular but the idea of Al-Quds is more general than that. It's for people who have been oppressed."
"We look through the prism of Palestine and the kinds of things that have happened to the Palestinian people - we have come out to say that we are with them."
The rally ended in Waterloo Place, just off Pall Mall, Daily Mail said.
The demonstrators also shouted slogans chants "end the occupation now" and "Israel is a terrorist state", the reports said.
There was a heavy police presence as the procession was met with a small but vocal crowd at Piccadilly Circus because an anti-Muslim and fascist groups tried to disrupt during peaceful Quds demonstration.
Extremists' attemption to disrupt
Al-Quds days organizers said that far right groups forced a decision to break with tradition and switch the location at the last moment.
They said authorities had "bowed" to pressure and threats from anti-Islamic groups and ruled that the annual Al-Quds Day demonstration in support of Palestine could not take place in Trafalgar Square as scheduled.
Kazim, spokesman for the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said: "At the last minute after months of negotiation, the Greater London Authority told us we are not allowed to go ahead with the rally in Trafalgar Square. Instead of standing up to threats they have capitulated. A place that was to be used to raise voices against fascism is now being given over to the very bigots we are supposed to be standing against."
Organizers said the event had been held in the capital for the last 27 years without any trouble on the part of the demonstrators and they were confident that would continue this year despite warnings by anti-Islamic groups.
But with them, he said, were "the BNP, the EDL, the racists, the extremists - all of this unholy alliance have got together" to say oppression should continue.
The right-wing group behind a series of anti-Islamist protests which have ended in running street battles is planning to demonstrate today in London's Trafalgar Square.
The central London demonstration follows clashes between protesters, anti-fascist groups and police in Luton, Birmingham and north London.
"Not actually large numbers of people"
Communities Secretary John Denham said far right groups were deliberately trying to provoke ethnic minority groups into conflict in a bid to cause divisions within communities.
'I think that the English Defense League and other organizations are not actually large numbers of people,' Denham told yesterday's Guardian. 'They clearly, though, have among them people who know exactly what they're doing.
"The tactic of trying to provoke a response in the hope of causing wider violence and mayhem is long established on the far-right and among extremist groups," Denham said earlier.
The English Defense League (EDL), which clashed with anti-fascist group in an anti-Muslims demonstration in Birmingham last week, heading to 35 arrests.
The EDL was originally formed by football supporters in Luton and has campaigned against Muslim people. It is alleged to have links to former hooligan networks and known British National Party agitators.
On Friday, EDL and another extremist group staged a protest in Harrow central mosque during a Friday prayer time in Ramadan, sparked an anger among Muslims. Police made 10 arrests as the two groups attempted to confront each other.
Birmingham city centre has twice seen running battles between the EDL and the campaign group Unite Against Fascism, and unofficial marches have been temporarily banned from Luton town centre following violence.
Source: Agencies
