Supporters cheer Holocaust survivor questioned by police over Gaza protest

Last Friday, a group of protesters gathered outside a London police station to show solidarity with Stephan Kaporek, an 87-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor. Kaporek is under police investigation for allegedly committing public order offenses during a pro-Palestinian demonstration.

Kaporek, using a cane, wearing a gray coat, a green scarf, and a flat cap, walked slowly along the gentle slope of The Strand. At 2:40 p.m., he walked through a crowd of cheering supporters and up the steps of the Charing Cross Police Station, smiling and waving to his supporters.

Supporters waved Palestinian flags, beat drums, and chanted slogans like "Defend Stephan Kaporek." Among the crowd was at least one other Holocaust survivor, as well as some descendants of survivors, who unfurled a banner that read: "Holocaust Survivor Descendants Against Genocide."

Mark Etkind, the son of survivors of the Lodz Ghetto and Buchenwald concentration camp, told Middle East Eye that it was "absurd" that Jews like Kaporek were facing "police persecution" for protesting the war in Gaza.

Etkind said: "As we speak, the ceasefire has collapsed. If Stephan were here now, he would be imploring the world to protest and stop this genocide, because that is the most important lesson we should all learn from the Holocaust." He added that Kaporek was unable to attend because he was being questioned at the police station.

Kaporek is one of many people being questioned by police in connection with a pro-Palestinian demonstration on January 18. During that demonstration, dozens of protesters were detained and arrested. Police allege that the leaders and other key figures of the demonstration violated the conditions of the demonstration by breaking through a police cordon from Whitehall to Trafalgar Square.

Organizers dispute this, saying they were invited by police to be "filtered" into Trafalgar Square, where dozens were subsequently detained and arrested. They stated that they were subjected to "heavy-handed and aggressive policing."

During the January 18 demonstration, Kaporek was photographed holding flowers and a placard that read: "This Holocaust survivor says: Stop the genocide in Gaza!" The Metropolitan Police told Middle East Eye that, to date, 21 people have been charged with allegedly breaching the conditions of the Public Order Act.

Chris Nineham, the demonstration's steward, and Ben Jamal, the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, have both pleaded not guilty and plan to stand trial later this year. Several other people who attended the demonstration, including MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, have also been questioned by police.

Before Kaporek's arrival, Andrew Murray, head of the Stop the War Coalition, addressed the crowd. The coalition is one of the organizers of regular pro-Palestinian demonstrations held in London since the start of the Gaza war. Murray said that protesters in the UK are facing a "systematic attack on the right to protest."

Murray said: "We are witnessing something absurd and disgraceful now, that the police think their best use of time is to bring an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor in for questioning because he walked across Trafalgar Square with a bunch of tulips."

Kaporek was born in Budapest in 1937, and during his childhood, Jews faced deadly persecution and were later deported to Nazi death camps; he spent much of his time in hiding. He has regularly attended pro-Palestinian marches since Israel launched its war on Gaza.

"If it wasn't so serious, it would be laughable," said 80-year-old Agnes Kory, referring to Kaporek's police questioning. Agnes Kory, another Holocaust survivor born in Hungary, sat on a wall outside the police station and offered Middle East Eye the folding canvas stool she had brought, explaining why she had come to support Kaporek.

She said: "I think he is being intimidated for strongly objecting, as a Holocaust survivor, to the idea that Jews are being threatened by pro-Palestinian demonstrations." Kory was born in Budapest in early 1945, while her mother was in hiding and her father had been deported to the Mauthausen concentration camp and killed.

She expressed skepticism about the claim that Kaporek broke through the Trafalgar Square cordon, given his age. "He is not physically capable of breaking through any cordon, let alone a police cordon. If it wasn't so serious, it would be laughable," Kory said.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: "As part of our ongoing investigation into suspected breaches of conditions imposed under the Public Order Act on Saturday, January 18, we have invited a further eight people to attend police stations for questioning."

"While we are aware that some people have been named as being asked to attend for questioning, we will not confirm the identity of anyone being investigated."