Suzanne Leigh and
Ben Hatton
Getty ImagesSir Keir Starmer has said pro-Palestinian protests planned for this weekend will cause “distress” and urged those thinking of taking part to “recognise and respect the grief of British Jews” after Thursday’s synagogue attack.
“It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain,” the prime minister wrote in the Jewish Chronicle.
A leader of the Community Security Trust (CST) charity, which provides security for the Jewish community, told the it was “phenomenally tone deaf” to be “taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people”.
But a spokesperson for protest group Defend Our Juries said: “Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win.”
Pro-Palestinian protests are planned in both London and Manchester on Saturday.
The leaders of both the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police have said covering protests will stretch resources at a time when police have deployed extra officers to synagogues and other Jewish buildings to offer protection and reassurance.
The prime minister’s comments came after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called for demonstrators to “step back” and give people a chance to grieve.
She said there were “strong” powers to protect the freedom to protest, but they could be overridden on the advice of the police.
“I can take my lead from the police, if they were to tell me there was an inability to respond and to police the protests, then there are powers that are available,” she added.
In an article for the Jewish Chronicle published on Friday, Sir Keir said: “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.”
Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said he did not have the powers to prevent protests or ask the home secretary to do so but questioned whether they should proceed.
“There’s a risk the timing of that event sends a message which, whether inadvertently or deliberately, endorses antisemitism, which is a deep risk to community tension,” he said.
The Met has written to the protest group Defend Our Juries, raising concerns about the amount of police resources its planned protest would divert at a time when “visible reassurance and protective security” was needed for communities.
But the group, which has led demonstrations against the ban on Palestine Action, said it planned to go ahead with the march.
Dave Rich, director of policy at CST, told Radio 4’s Today programme: “For so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians. The two are not the same.
“And I think it’s remarkably self absorbed and insensitive to say the least.”
Defend Our Juries member, Sir Jonathon Porritt, told the that he had “no doubt” that “everyone taking part in the silent vigil today will demonstrate huge respect and real grief for those affected by the absolute atrocity at Heaton Park.”
He told Radio 4’s Today programme: “I do not think that means that we should be asked to give up on our right to stand up for those who are being devastated by an ongoing, real-time genocide in Gaza.”
He added those taking part “would have the deepest concern about growing levels of antisemitism”.
The group has urged the Met to “prioritise protecting the community, rather than arresting those peacefully holding signs” in support of Palestine Action.
The government proscribed Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July. At various protests since then, hundreds have been arrested for showing support for the group, which has won permission to challenge the ban.
The Met will deploy 1,500 officers to arrest anyone breaking the law by overtly supporting the group.
Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson appealed for those intending to protest in the city this weekend to “consider whether this is really the right time”.
He said his force would not seek to stop peaceful gatherings, but said police would immediately act to curtail any acts of violence or intimidation.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine, which is planning a demonstration in the city’s Cathedral Gardens on Saturday, said: “Because we recognise the sensitivity of the local situation, there will be a Jewish speaker who understands what both communities are going through.”
The CST’s Mr Rich also told the that politicians and wider society have allowed antisemitism to flourish in the UK.
“There are a lot of people who could step up and do better,” he said.
He added: “If people knew how much, how many people went online every single day to talk about killing Jews, they’d be absolutely horrified.”
“More broadly, across civil society and across parts of industry, there is an inability to recognise antisemitism or a reluctance to deal with incitement in ways that have just allowed it to grow.”
A pro-Palestinian protest took place in Manchester on Thursday night. Demonstrators in London protesting against the Israeli navy halting a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza clashed with police too.
The Metropolitan Police said 40 people had been arrested. Six of those detained were arrested for assaults on police officers.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp told the on Saturday: “I don’t think these protests should go ahead at all. I think it’s extremely insensitive to the Jewish community.”
He added: “We cannot allow this atmosphere to develop where a particular community, in this case the Jewish community, are intimidated.”
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said on Friday “non-violent protest has a really important part to play in our democracy”.
“I think it’s important in democracy we find space and we find nuance that people can both grieve and people can protest for the people that they are grieving and all of these things can be true at the same time,” he told the .
The UK’s chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said on Friday that many members of the Jewish community wondered why marches in support of Palestine Action had been allowed to take place.
“Some of them contain outright antisemitism, outright support for Hamas. Not every single person, however there is so much of this, which certainly is dangerous to many within our society,” Sir Ephraim told Radio 4’s Today programme.
“You cannot separate the words on our streets, the actions of people in this way, and what inevitably results, which was yesterday’s terrorist attack.”
He also called on the government “yet again”, to “get a grip on these demonstrations, they are dangerous”.
