An 87-year-old Holocaust survivor has been questioned by the Metropolitan Police after laying flowers in London’s Trafalgar Square during a pro-Palestine protest to commemorate tens of thousands Palestinians killed in Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

Stephen Kapos, who took part in a pro-Palestine protest in central London on January 18, was among nine people who were called in for questioning by the Met on Friday.

This came after 77 people were arrested on the day of the protest in what critics described as an example of “repressive and heavy-handed policing.”

Speaking outside Charing Cross Police Station after being questioned by the police, Kapos told The Independent that he is planning to continue marching for peace in Gaza, adding that he is “proud” to demonstrate in support of the Palestinian people along with his family members.

“The sort of killing that’s going on, it’s unbearable to watch and one wonders where it’s leading to because there is no defense to speak of,” he said.

“They are defenseless people out in the open. Their homes have been bombed to smithereens and they are in tents and now they are going to be bombed,” Kapros said of Gazans.

“It’s unbearable and I don’t understand how the world can stand it. And, I’m ashamed of our [regime] and everybody else who facilitates it and enables it.”

Kapros called on the UK government to condemn Israel’s actions and immediately suspend military contracts with Tel Aviv, as well as logistic support.

“All that should be stopped immediately because there’s no doubt about this being an atrocity and international crime, what’s going on, what’s perpetrated by Israel. So, how can you hesitate in the face of that?”

Kapos said protesting would “make it clear that all this will have electoral consequences” for the UK government, stressing that marches in support of the Palestinians “are not hate marches” and “are not no-go areas for Jews, which is again claimed.”

Kapos made the remarks as he was surrounded by around 100 supporters including other Holocaust survivors or descendants of them.  

A banner reading “Holocaust survivor descendants against Gaza genocide!” was one of the signs being held up, while chants such as “We are all Palestinians” were called out by the crowd.

Mark Etkind, co-organizer of Holocaust Survivors and Descendants Against the Gaza Genocide, described the behavior of Met as “terrifying, not just for the Palestine movement, but for anyone who wants to protest and believes in British democracy.”

A group of more than 50 MPs and peers wrote to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper in the aftermath of the 77 arrests, demanding an independent inquiry into the tactics used by the Met at the January 18 protest.

Another group of around 40 Holocaust survivors also wrote an open letter condemning the police’s questioning of Kapos.

“Any repression of the right to protest is bad enough — but to persecute a Jewish 87-year-old whose Holocaust experiences compel him to speak out against the Gaza genocide, is quite appalling,” the group said.

The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories also reacted to Kapos’ questioning by the police.

“Steven Kapos calls the global anti-genocide movement a “warm family”. May this family keep growing: 1. as an antidote to the despair of living in an unjust world 2. to remind politicians that their wrongs are seen 3. for the Palestinians to know that they have not been abandoned,” she wrote on X.