Pro-Palestinian campaigners accused Camden Council of censorship after protesters holding signs reading ‘Stop Genocide’ were ejected from the Town Hall.

At a council meeting last Monday, Camden Friends of Palestine activists entered the chamber gallery bearing black and white posters spelling out the words.

After they were asked to sit down and “allow the meeting to proceed” by the mayor, borough solicitor Andrew Maughan urged members to remove the placards or clear the gallery, arguing the protest's subject was beyond the scope of the meeting.

He said: “This is a debating chamber where we discuss issues about Camden, affecting Camden.

“We don’t allow notices and banners because it is a distraction and it’s not what the chamber is about and it’s not what’s being debated now."

After activists stood firm, members agreed to briefly suspend the meeting.

The pause lasted around 20 minutes, during which the police were called to intervene and remove the protesters.

In a press release, the group said it was “shocked” that law enforcement was called to a “silent and peaceful protest by local residents exercising their right to be present at the council’s public deliberations”.

A video shared on social media shows that after proceedings were halted Maughan entered the viewing gallery and said residents were allowed to remain if they removed the word ‘genocide’.

“To a lot of people, that word is offensive,” he said.

The campaigners said: “Finally, Camden Council acknowledges that genocide is offensive.

“Incredibly, however, it is the word ‘genocide’ they dislike, not the actual genocide taking place in Gaza, which council pension funds are actively enabling.”

The group said it rejects the notion that the word should be “censored” in a public meeting, and argued that the Town Hall is complicit in “Israeli aggression” via the council pension fund’s investments in companies like Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms company.

“The simplest way to stop protests is to divest council funds from companies supplying arms to Israel,” the statement concluded.

Camden Friends of Palestine describes itself as a self-organised group of residents, set up in response to Israel’s war against Hamas.

In July, the group protested in the chamber to urge the council to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, claiming it was directly funding millions into Israel.

A council spokesperson rejected the claim, insisting that the investments were exposed but not direct.

Since then, the council’s pensions committee has said it is “considering all options” over divestment.