Anti-Israel activist who scaled Big Ben with Palestinian flag arrested

The man stayed on the tower for 16 hours after threatening to climb higher if the authorities approached.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

A man who climbed part of the way up London’s iconic Big Ben on Saturday morning with a Palestinian flag was arrested after agreeing to leave and being brought to the ground via a crane 16 hours later.

The anti-Israel protestor had scrambled up several dozen meters while barefoot and wearing no safety harness at around 7:20 a.m.

He came to a stop on a small triangular ledge with a decorative post jutting upward in front of him. He then wrapped a keffiyeh around the post and periodically waved the flag while calling out, “Free Palestine.”

The authorities, who arrived quickly, closed the famous clock’s Elizabeth Tower at the Palace of Westminster in central London.

The Tower is considered part of the Houses of Parliament.

Tours of Parliament were cancelled, and access to the site was restricted, with the police shutting down Westminster Bridge, a main entry leading from the local subway station, and forbidding any other protest activity.

They cordoned off at a distance a small group on the ground who echoed the protestor’s “Free Palestine” calls and shouted out to him, “You are a hero!”

Many video clips of the scene were posted throughout the day to Instagram by the man himself as well as by onlookers.

In one clip, the bespectacled, black-clad climber told negotiators who had been lifted to his height via a fire truck’s ladder that he would descend “on his own terms.”

“If you come towards me, you are putting me in danger, and I will climb higher,” he threatened.

In another clip, he mixed in climate issues with his Middle East agenda.

“Democracy is dead, when people are sent to prison for nonviolent civil disobedience protests, when climate activists get three to four years in prison, when activists for Palestine are imprisoned for doing what the government should do – stop weapons from being sent to the terrorist state of Israel,” he said.

“At some point, you’re going to have to come down. How long do you think you’re going to be up there?” a negotiator asked him.

One of the videos the man posted indicated that he had originally planned to stay on the Tower for three and a half days. Nevertheless, at around midnight, he was convinced to come down and was promptly arrested.

“This has been a protracted incident due to the specifics of where the man was located and the need to ensure the safety of our officers, the individual, and the wider public,” the police said after the incident was over. “We worked with other agencies, including the London Fire Brigade, and deployed specialist officers to bring this incident to a close as quickly as possible whilst minimising risk to life.”