Key facts
- Led By Donkeys received £27,216 in compensation.
- The compensation is for a banner seized and destroyed by GLA officials.
- The banner displayed the message "Yes it’s a Genocide".
- The banner was confiscated on December 4, 2024.
- Veolia, a contractor, destroyed the banner due to deterioration.
- Led By Donkeys claims Palestine protests face different treatment in Britain.
The campaign group Led By Donkeys has secured £27,216 in compensation after a large banner it displayed in Parliament Square, bearing the message "Yes it’s a Genocide," was seized and subsequently destroyed by Greater London Authority (GLA) officials and their contractors.
The 40-metre by 40-metre banner was unfurled on December 4, 2024. Representatives from the GLA confiscated the banner, stating it was due to an unauthorised protest. After a 19-month campaign by Led By Donkeys to have the banner returned or its cost covered, the GLA informed the group that it had been given to environmental services company Veolia, which had destroyed it.
Veolia stated the banner deteriorated over approximately 12 weeks of storage, becoming a health and safety hazard, leading to its disposal. The company has since reimbursed Led By Donkeys for the full cost of the banner.
Ben Stewart, a co-founder of Led By Donkeys, criticized the authorities' actions, stating that the seizure and destruction of their property were disproportionate. He argued that Palestine protests are treated differently in Britain, with direct action and placards being criminalized. Stewart highlighted that this was the only instance of their equipment being seized and destroyed, despite years of other forms of activism.
A film created from aerial footage of the banner featured a voiceover from Professor Amos Goldberg, a historian of the Holocaust, who stated, "This is exactly what a genocide looks like." The article references a UN commission's conclusion that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and that Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had incited these acts. Israel has consistently denied these allegations, calling the reports "distorted and false" and a "libellous sham."
Research by legal and rights experts, including UN investigators, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and genocide scholars, has also concluded that Israel is committing genocide. The European Legal Support Center and Forensic Architecture launched an "index of repression" to document instances of Palestinian solidarity being silenced, criminalized, or sanctioned in Britain, recording over 900 such instances in the past six years.
A GLA spokesperson confirmed the banner was seized following an unauthorised protest and was damaged during storage before being disposed of by contractors. A Veolia spokesperson reiterated that the banner became a health and safety hazard due to deterioration and was disposed of, with reimbursement provided to Led By Donkeys.