Two anti-Israel protestors arrested at London Marathon

While the pair threw paint symbolizing blood on the race route, others ran in honor of the 59 hostages remaining in Hamas hands.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Sunday’s London Marathon saw both sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict supported, with two arrested for throwing paint on the race route while dozens ran to publicize the fact that Hamas is still holding 59 hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Two anti-Israel protestors jumped over the sidewalk barriers and threw red chalk paint on Tower Bridge just before the lead men in the race came through.

“The UK Labour government is complicit in enabling a genocide in Palestine!” one of them was heard to yell.

The pair were wearing T-shirts saying “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel.”

The Youth Demand group has pressed for a complete UK trade embargo on Israel, and has participated in numerous protests against the Jewish state since the Hamas-led invasion and massacre of 1,200 people on October 7, 2023 sparked the ongoing war.

The Metropolitan Police said a marathon staff member removed them from the runners’ path and the race was not affected.

They were subsequently identified as Willow Holland, 18, and Cristy North, 38, and were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance.

As of Monday they were still being held in custody.

While presumably the color of the paint they threw symbolized the blood Israel has spilled in the Gaza Strip, another color was much more prominently displayed during the race.

Fifty-nine runners wore yellow hats, each one emblazoned with the name of one particular hostage that Hamas has yet to free, and “Bring Them Home Now” T-shirts.

They were running “to raise awareness and remind the world of our 59 hostages who are still not home,” said a spokesperson for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum UK.

“The runners’ yellow hats and ribbons created a visible stream of hope through London’s streets,” the group added, “catching the attention of the thousands of spectators and reminding the world to not give up the fight for the hostages as they remain in Hamas captivity.”

Prior to the race, the forum asked for supporters to “Bring your voices, your signs, and your hearts,” saying, “Let’s be loud. Let’s be visible. Let’s make sure the world does not forget them.”

Friends and families of the marathoners held Israeli flags, as well as signs and banners calling for the hostages’ release, while cheering the runners on.

Other individuals also ran to honor the hostages on their own.

Yoel Levy, a British fitness coach, dressed as Batman for his run in remembrance of Ariel Bibas, a four-year-old who loved the superhero and whom Hamas terrorists murdered along with his mother Shiri, and his infant brother Kfir, after kidnapping them on October 7.

The father of the family, Yarden, was released in the last hostage deal in February.

His motivation, he told Jewish News online newspaper, was “to represent British Jews and showcase that we care, and we care massively about Israel.”