Anti-Hamas activist arrested after waving banana during London protest

Niyak Ghorbani was accused of making a racist gesture

A prominent anti-Hamas activist was arrested for racism after eating a banana during a pro-Palestine protest.

Niyak Ghorbani was accused of making a racist gesture with the banana while standing with counter protesters in central London last Saturday.

The 38-year-old Iranian dissident, who has become a familiar figure for holding a “Hamas Are Terrorists” banner at counter protests, denies he was being racist and insists he was simply eating the fruit.

He was referencing recent events on American campuses in which bananas were used to taunt pro-Palestinian protesters.

Mr Gohrbani was handcuffed and led away by five officers after pro-Palestine protesters outside Barclays Bank in Tottenham Court Road complained to police.

Following his arrest Mr Ghorbani was bailed on condition that he does not enter the boroughs of Camden or Westminster or be present at any pro-Palestine demonstration.

He is currently seeking legal advice in order to challenge the bail conditions, following a previous successful bid to have them removed.

Footage from last Saturday’s incident showed Mr Ghorbani eating a banana and later waving another one in the air alongside his England flag. At one stage tensions erupt after he offers the uneaten banana to a protester wearing a Palestinian scarf around his face.

Separate footage shows an officer taking the flag from Mr Ghorbani and the banana being trodden underfoot as he is led away. Other counter-protesters around him can be seen holding placards reading “No Hostages; No Ceasefire. Openly pro-Israel”.

‘I didn’t make any racist gestures’

Mr Ghorbani told The Telegraph: “I was holding my Hamas Are Terrorists banner and when the marchers tried to cover it with flags to hide it I got out my England flag and flew that.

“At the same time I got one of my two bananas and started eating it. I didn’t make any racist gestures or insults. I was just standing there eating a banana but somebody must have complained about me being racist.”

As the march moved away in the direction of University College London to join students there protesting over the war in Gaza, officers moved in to arrest Mr Ghorbani.

Mr Ghorbani claims that as he was being led away one of the officers told him that the flag of St George was sometimes flown by racists and that carrying the banana could be interpreted as a racist gesture.

He said: “I never showed a banana to a black person. I did not see any black person there, and this is completely a fabricated issue. I am a foreigner myself and have never racially insulted anyone. I was only using it like they do in America to make fun of the pro-Palestinian protestors.”

Mr Ghorbani claims that during the arrest a number of his personal items were confiscated for evidence, including a T-shirt reading FCK HMS.

Niyak Ghorbani has been arrested several times during his counter-protests – Christopher Pledger for the Telegraph

The Metropolitan Police has previously tried to ban Mr Ghorbani, who has been arrested several times during his counter-protests, from going near any demonstrations in central London relating to Israel and the conflict in Gaza.

But a judge last month threw out the strict bail conditions. Deputy district judge Lisa Towell ruled the conditions were neither proportionate nor necessary.

Mr Ghorbani, who has been manhandled and attacked during his counter protests, insists he is doing nothing wrong in pointing out that Hamas is a proscribed terror group under UK law.

He accuses the Metropolitan Police of harassment, saying they want to prevent him from staging counter-protests over the marches that have regularly staged in London against Israel’s retaliation to Hamas’s Oct 7 attacks.

“The police are trying to find a way to break my spirit,” he said. “They have targeted me and are trying to find something to use against me.”

Scotland Yard said: “A man was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated offence under section 4a of the Public Order Act, during a protest in Camden Borough on May 4.

“The arrest was made after officers received reports that a man in the crowd had made racist gestures at people gathered at the location.”

It added: “The arrest was not made in relation to any signs, placards or flags being displayed as part of the protest. The man has been released on bail pending further enquiries.”

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