Pro-Palestine protesters disrupted the London Marathon on Sunday by throwing red paint on Tower Bridge during the men’s elite race.
Two demonstrators from the group Youth Demand jumped into the path of the runners around 10:35 am, throwing red powder paint onto the road while calling for a trade embargo on Israel. They wore t-shirts that read “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel.” London police quickly arrested the individuals amid the demonstration.
The protesters were identified by the group as 18-year-old Willow Holland from Bristol and Cristy North from Nottingham. Youth Demand released a statement in which Holland explained her protest, saying, “I am taking action with Youth Demand because I have run out of other options: thousands are being killed in Gaza, our government is making no effort to stop it and no other course of action, marches or rallies, has worked.”
“I refuse to be complicit in a genocide funded by our politicians,” she added.
The group stated that the demonstration followed the United Nations’ World Food Programme announcing its food stocks in Gaza have been “depleted” by the Israeli blockade.
“I’m taking action today at the London marathon because the people in Palestine are running out of time,” North said in a statement. “We have tried all other avenues to get the government to stop arming Israel and yet our government is still enabling a genocide.”
Despite the protest, there appeared to be no obvious impact on the runners involved in the marathon, according to a report by The Independent. The event saw more than 56,000 participants run the 26.2 miles through London on Sunday.
