Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has urged students not to join pro-Palestinian protests on Tuesday, the second anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, warning of “rising antisemitism on our streets”.
Sir Keir said it was “un-British to have little respect for others” by staging demonstrations on the anniversary, adding protests had been used by some as a “despicable excuse to attack British Jews”.
The UK is seeing heightened security to protect Jewish communities after last week’s deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue.
Students from London universities took part in a joint march, while rallies took place in Edinburgh, Belfast and Sheffield.
Universities UK – which represents the university sector – said while universities were places where contentious views can be expressed, students and staff taking part in protests should consider the timing of protests scheduled for 7 October.
Writing in the Times, Sir Keir said that while some have protested against the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, “others have used this as a despicable excuse to attack British Jews for something over which they have absolutely no responsibility”.
“On the anniversary of the atrocities of October 7, students are once again planning protests,” he said.
“This is not who we are as a country. It’s un-British to have so little respect for others. And that’s before some of them decide to start chanting hatred towards Jewish people all over again.”
Sir Keir stressed that the UK would “always stand tall and united” against those seeking to harm Jewish communities.
Around 100 people joined a rally at the University of Sheffield.
Asked about the prime minister’s suggestion it was “un-British” to protest today, organiser Anton Parocki told the : “It’s just disgraceful.”
“What I think is insensitive, is that there has been two years of genocide,” he said.
“Conflating that [actions of Benjamin] Netanyahu with Judaism is actually antisemitic.
“Jewish people are not pro-genocide. We need to be loud about this, because there is a genocide right now, Palestinians are starving right now.”
A UN commission of inquiry report concluded Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza – Israel categorically rejected the findings as “distorted and false”.
At University of Edinburgh hundreds of students and staff marched through its campus carrying flags and holding placards.
In London, students marched between university campuses to criticise their “complicity through investments” and academic partnerships linked to Israel.
It has been promoted as including groups from a number of the capital’s universities including King’s College London, London School of Economics and Soas
Protest group UCL Action For Palestine, which is taking part in the London march, posted on social media that it would not be “silenced or intimidated” and stood in solidarity with the thousands of Palestinians killed before and prior to October 2023.
Rallies were also organised at the Universities of Strathclyde, Manchester, Bristol and Leeds.
However, the Union of Jewish Students said it welcomed the prime minister’s intervention and many Jewish students have been “made afraid to come on to campus”.
“It’s not about banning activism, it’s about the time, the place and manner of protests,” the union’s president Louis Danker told the .
“That is what we’re worried about and that is what Jewish students are frightened of.”
Earlier on Tuesday, education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said she would also ask protesters to think about if they had to demonstrate “today of all days”.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, she said: “There are 364 other days in the year where you can protest. And that is not to diminish their right to protest about the suffering that they see in Gaza…
“But two years on from October 7, I would just ask people to reflect and try and think about our shared humanity and our responsibilities to one another – and particularly Jewish people in our country – who today will be feeling a deep sense of mourning and loss and real concern.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch warned against “so-called ‘protests’ that turn into hate marches on our streets”, with Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey agreeing it would be “completely wrong” for people to take part in the protests on the second anniversary of the attacks.
On Saturday, nearly 500 people were arrested in central London during protests in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action, the Metropolitan Police reported.
The demonstrations went ahead despite pleas from ministers and police who called for protests to be postponed following the synagogue attack.
Sir Keir’s government recognised Palestinian statehood last month, amid international pressure to end the war in Gaza.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Since then, 67,139 people have been killed by Israeli military operations in Gaza, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry says.
