Organisers of pro-Palestine protests have vowed to go ahead with demonstrations this weekend despite pleas from the police and ministers for them to be cancelled in the wake of the Manchester attacks.
It comes as Jewish student groups expressed concern that planned campus rallies in support of Gaza on 7 October, marking the second anniversary of the deadly Hamas attacks and Israel’s retaliatory action would still go ahead.
The action due to be held at universities, including Sheffield and Edinburgh, has been met with appeals from Jewish students to change the date out of respect for those mourning lost loved ones in the Hamas attacks, which resulted in the killing of 1,200 people with another 250 taken hostage.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and the Metropolitan Police on Friday urged a pro-Palestine protest group to reconsider its plans for a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in central London on Saturday.
‘It is not a time to stoke tension’
Sir Keir Starmer also suggested it shouldn’t go ahead. Writing in the Jewish Chronicle he said: “I know that planned protests over the weekend, just a few days before the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, as well as in the shadow of the Manchester attack, will cause distress.
“Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy – and there is justified concern about the suffering in Gaza – but a minority have used these protests as a pretext for stoking antisemitic tropes.
“I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews this week. This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain.
The Met warned of the amount of police resources the protest would divert at a time when “visible reassurance and protective security” is needed in communities across London.
Mahmood went further, telling LBC: “I don’t think they do their cause any favours by behaving in this way.
“If the point of protest is to stand up for something and persuade other people that you are right, then I think this is entirely the wrong way to go about it, but that is on their conscience.”
The group behind the planned demonstration, Defend Our Juries, which is behind several rallies in opposition to the decision to proscribe Palestine Action, insisted on Friday: “Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win”.
A spokesman added: “Our thoughts are with everyone who has lost loved ones in the horrific attack on Heaton Park Synagogue and we stand in solidarity with the Jewish community across the UK. Tomorrow’s action, which is in Trafalgar Square and not near any synagogue, is about defying the Government’s absurdly authoritarian proscription of Palestine Action.”
Around 1,500 people, “including priests, vicars, pensioners and healthcare workers”, are expected to be involved.
Starmer and Lady Victoria visit the scene of the attack near the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester. ‘This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain,’ the PM has said (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty)Calls for change of date of campus protests
The Met Police said it will call in support from other forces in the country if necessary, to ensure officers can arrest all those breaking the law in support of Palestine Action, a proscribed terrorist group.
The previous two events have seen a total of 1,422 people arrested, the majority for supporting a proscribed organisation.
Pro-Palestine groups have come under greater scrutiny in the aftermath of the attacks on a synagogue in Manchester, with community leaders urging them to reconsider plans for demonstrations.
In particular, the Sheffield University branch of the Revolutionary Communist Party and the Edinburgh Justice for Palestine Group made up of students from Edinburgh University, have sparked dismay for their plan to go ahead with rallies on 7 October.
Calls for a change of date from the Union of Jewish Students was rejected by the Sheffield University student group due to the “increased printing costs” associated with moving the date, the UJS said.
Louis Danker, President of the UJS, told The i Paper that the decision to hold the rallies was “distressing”.
“Jewish students simply want one day with space to mourn those lost, including friends and family, in the Hamas attacks in Israel,” Danker said.
“We of course respect the right to protest, but we fear the continuation of violent language and glorification of Hamas’s actions. We call on universities to take action to protect Jewish students from inflammatory rhetoric this week, including the illegal glorification of terrorism”.
According to Jewish charity, the Community Security Trust that provides volunteers to protect Jewish communities, there was a 413 per cent rise in antisemitic incidents on campus in the year after October 7th, including the glorification of terrorism and violent language.
The Revolutionary Communist Party and Edinburgh Justice for Palestine Group were contacted for comment.
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