Tens of thousands of protesters showed their anger at the Israeli bombing of Gaza today in a series of rallies across the UK that included throwing shoes at the gates of Downing Street.
More than a thousands pairs of footwear were thrown by protesters marching down Whitehall. A firework was also set off metres from the Downing Street gates.
The organisers said they wanted to leave shoes at the gates as a Muslim symbol of disgust at the attacks. When they were prevented from doing so, protesters began throwing their footwear, mimicking the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush at a press conference last month.
Protesters shouted: "Shame on you, have my shoe."
Shobhana Mukhi, from Beirut, said she had brought along a pair of trainers to throw because: "I wanted a physical sign of protest, people can talk about the numbers who attended, but if there's a physical representation of all of the shoes, then it sends a louder message."
Scotland Yard said its police officers were "not troubled" by the shoe throwing.
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More than a thousands pairs of footwear were thrown by protesters marching down Whitehall. A firework was also set off metres from the Downing Street gates.
The organisers said they wanted to leave shoes at the gates as a Muslim symbol of disgust at the attacks. When they were prevented from doing so, protesters began throwing their footwear, mimicking the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush at a press conference last month.
Protesters shouted: "Shame on you, have my shoe."
Shobhana Mukhi, from Beirut, said she had brought along a pair of trainers to throw because: "I wanted a physical sign of protest, people can talk about the numbers who attended, but if there's a physical representation of all of the shoes, then it sends a louder message."
Scotland Yard said its police officers were "not troubled" by the shoe throwing.
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