UK police investigate Tube driver over leading ‘free Palestine’ chant 

British Transport Police (BTP) and Transport for London (TfL) are investigating a Tube driver for leading a “Free, free Palestine” chant on a London Underground train yesterday.

According to BBC News, an unverified video circulated online, appearing to show a Central line driver using the public announcement system to lead the “free Palestine” chant, as carriages of passengers were en-route to a pro-Palestinian march in the city. The demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinians saw around 100,000 people take part in Central London, amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

London tube driver kicks off the chant ‘Free, Free Palestine 🇵🇸’ over the tannoy system in his train. Many thousands of people were using the tube system to get to the Free Palestine Protest . Much appreciated by the commuters in the carriage ! #Gaza_Genocide pic.twitter.com/fUCUpEWvzG

— Akunjee 🖋 (@mohammedakunjee) October 21, 2023

The passengers can be heard responding to the announcement, in which driver can be heard saying “hope you all have a pleasant day today” and “keep all those people in your prayers”.

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pic.twitter.com/c812gIgwmQ

— British Transport Police (@BTP) October 21, 2023

BTP Assistant Chief Constable Sean O’Callaghan said the force was “aware of footage circulating on social media which suggests chants are led by the driver of a train in London earlier”.

“BTP are working with Transport for London and investigating the matter.”

Despite being widely well-received by Londoners and other social media users, in response to the “incident”, Minister for London Paul Scully warned against what he said would be stoking hatred against Jews, saying “At a time when there’s not enough emphasis on the difference between the horrific terrorist attacks by Hamas and the legitimate concerns of Palestinians in Gaza, it’s really important that Londoners don’t stoke the tension in our capital where Jews live peacefully alongside Muslims.”

“Informed protest can bring change. But on-trend bandwagons can cause rifts and fear in communities, increasing the threat to the safety of some passengers travelling among those crowds.”

He also suggested London Mayor Sadiq Khan and TfL “need to get staff focused on the day job of safely moving people from A to B”.

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