‘That’s just NOT true!’ Furious row breaks out over Palestinian marches at Israel ‘war crimes’

Showing the clip in full, Carver explained that a probe is now underway and asked Schneider whether it was appropriate to use the tannoy in that way.

“Yes, it's absolutely fine,” Schneider said before Carver sharply questioned “why?”.

He continued: “So on your way to a football match, sometimes the tube driver -”

Carver interjected again: “It’s is not a football match though, is it?”

Schneider remained calm, simply replying: “But hold on, Right. Let's just. What did he say?

“He said free Palestine, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to say and he said keep people in your prayers. That's what I just heard there.”

Carver continued to question: “What does Free Palestine actually mean to you, James? Because people throw around this plant all the time. And I wonder what does it actually mean?

“A lot of people on that rally unfortunately seem to believe that it means the eradication of Israel.”

Schnider said: “That's…hold on. That just isn't true.”

“You said loads of people on that March. I can't account for what everybody did, but I can tell you from what I saw and I was actually, I was there.

“Now free Palestine means the liberation of the Palestinian people who are dispossessed, who don't have a state, who've suffered decades of occupation, who live under an apartheid situation.

“And free Palestine means freedom, dignity and justice for those people who currently do not have it.

“It is a cry for justice and it is in no way a cry for justice.”

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Earlier on in the show, Carver quizzed Schneider over war crimes being committed by Israel against Gaza.

Speaking on his first-hand experience at the rally, Schnieder said: “I saw probably hundreds of thousands of people. I mean we just heard from Chris Hobbs. He thinks that's the largest since 2003, the anti-Iraq war protest.

“It was certainly huge and it was in the rain mainly, and it was hundreds of thousands of people peacefully demanding that our Government stops its complicity in the war crimes that are currently being perpetrated on Gaza.

“And I think that is the main take away. I think the vast, vast, vast, vast vast majority of people who are there that will have been their experience.”

Carver asked: “May I ask what you define as the war crimes that Israel are committing?”

Schnieder replied: “Yes, of course. So collective punishment is a war crime under the Geneva Convention.

“So the shutting off of electricity, water, fuel and food is by definition a war crime. Collective punishment. The raising Gaza to rubble is itself a war crime of collective punishment.

“Already more than one in 20 buildings in Gaza have been levelled since the beginning of this bombing campaign, which has seen more bombs dropped on Gaza than on Afghanistan in the entire first year of that war.

“These are clearly war crimes that have been committed, and they're being committed with British bombs, with British bullets, and with British complicity because our state is supporting them.”

Carver then asked whether he was surprised not to see people protesting against Hamas after reporters suggested the terrorist group are stopping humanitarian aid from reaching its citizens.

“There are examples of Hamas potentially killing its own citizens, certainly not keeping them safe, essentially putting their lives at risk. I thought that if this protest was all about peace, would you not see that demonstrated there?” Carver asked.

Schneider said: “So our Government doesn't arm Hamas. We don't provide diplomatic cover to Hamas.

“So we are in no way complicit with any crimes that Hamas engages in, but we are complicit in the crimes that the Israeli state carries out because we support the Israeli state, we fund, we help fund the Israeli military, and we offer it diplomatic cover.”