UK Leader Urges Pro-Palestine Protesters to Honor the Mourning of UK Jewish Community’

The prime minister has called for protesters to acknowledge the sorrow of Jewish Britons this week” in the wake of the Heaton Park synagogue incident.

Ahead of a scheduled protest challenging the prohibition on Palestine Action, Keir Starmer wrote that demonstrators should recognise this is a time of mourning.

“Non-violent demonstration is a essential part of our governance – and there is legitimate worry about the distress in Gaza – but a minority have used these demonstrations as a excuse for fueling antisemitic tropes,” he stated.

“I appeal to anyone considering protesting this weekend to understand and honor the grief of British Jews this week. This is a moment of grief. It is not a time to increase friction and cause more suffering.”

Rally Coordinators Respond to Appeals for Cancellation

However, those protesting against the restriction on Palestine Action have said calling off Saturday’s event would “allow terrorism to triumph”, during pressure from police and the government to postpone it in the wake of the assault in Manchester.

The interior minister, Shabana Mahmood, joined the calls on Friday to appeals to postpone the demonstration, after law enforcement said they wanted to be able to direct personnel on protecting Jewish and Muslim communities.

Metropolitan Police Head Voices Apprehensions

The UK capital's top officer, the law enforcement leader, said that persistent rallies after the attack “may potentially create further tensions and some might say shows insensitivity”.

The organisers, the protest group, said in a declaration on Friday that backers, including many Jewish people, wanted the protest to go ahead.

They projected over a thousand participants, including priests, church officials, retirees and further attendees, to be involved in the demonstration, which would involve them calmly gathering holding cardboard signs saying “I reject mass killing. I back the activist group”.

Detention Figures

More than over sixteen hundred individuals have been arrested at a series of protests in the capital and elsewhere since the ban of Palestine Action was implemented.

“We stand with everyone who has lost loved ones in the awful assault on the Manchester religious site and we show support with the Jewish population across the UK,” the organization said in a announcement.

It added: “Numerous Jewish backers of our organization have advised that cancelling tomorrow’s demonstration would potentially conflating the policies of the state of Israel with Jewish people around the world.”

Protection Matters

Defend Our Juries reiterated its denunciation of the attack and urged the authorities “to emphasize protecting the community, instead of detaining totally calm activists”.

“Calling off non-violent demonstrations allows extremism to triumph. It’s increasingly crucial to protect our political system, including our basic freedoms to civil assembly and freedom of speech.”

Law Enforcement Capacity

The commissioner claimed Defend Our Juries of “taking crucial capacity from the populations of the capital at a time when they are needed most”.

“People have been debating for the recent period whether Palestinian support demonstrations are simply a call for peace, or have an hidden agenda to incite antisemitism,” said the commissioner.

The commissioner said the London authorities would call in assistance from law enforcement agencies across the UK to ensure it could arrest all those committing offenses in favor of Palestine Action, while the authorities also gave protection to neighborhoods.

More officers will be deployed in the area of Muslim religious sites and in areas with substantial Islamic residents.

Legal Framework

He added: “People could question why we do not ban the rally, but there is no legal basis in law for us to do so.”

However, the state-designated authority terror law assessor has told journalistic sources that law enforcement should be provided more authority to request prohibitions on protest processions in the immediate aftermath of a security breach.

The legal expert said the power should only be used to spare police resources.

“In cases where an emergency situation where law enforcement need personnel to deal with the consequences of a extremist event, I am taken aback there is no legal basis to forbid a procession or protest in these exact conditions,” Hall said.

Official Viewpoint

The Met has expressed that having to monitor ongoing demonstrations since the previous year's attack on Israel had caused major challenges.

Speaking about Palestinian support demonstrations that went ahead on Thursday, Mahmood said in an interview: “I was very disappointed to see those protests proceeding last night. I think that action is essentially against UK values. I think it is disrespectful. I would have wanted those people to just pause.”