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The Home Secretary has expressed her “disappointment” that pro-Palestinian demonstrations proceeded on Thursday, following the recent synagogue attack in which two men were killed.
Shabana Mahmood has also urged demonstrators to “step back” from planned marches this weekend, stating: “I do think that carrying on in this way does feel un-British, it feels wrong.”
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has countered these remarks, asserting: “Non-violent protest has a really important part to play in our democracy.”
A pro-Palestinian demonstration took place in Manchester on Thursday evening.
Separately, in London, protesters demonstrating against the Israeli navy’s interception of a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza clashed with law enforcement.
Large crowds bearing Palestinian flags and placards were seen on Whitehall into the evening hours.
The Metropolitan Police have reported 40 arrests, with six individuals detained for assaulting police officers.
“It is important to draw a line between what is happening in the Middle East and what is happening at home,” Mahmood stated on BBC Breakfast on Friday.
“I would say to people who are planning to go on a protest is to just take a step back for a minute, and imagine if you had lost a loved one to a terror attack in this country,” she added.
The Metropolitan Police have written to the protest group Defend Our Juries, raising concerns about the significant police resources their planned demonstration would require, particularly when “visible reassurance and protective security” is needed for communities.
Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley has stated that pro-Palestinian protests held “within hours” of the synagogue attack “will likely create further tensions and some might say lacks sensitivity.”
However, Defend Our Juries, a group that has organized demonstrations against the ban on Palestine Action, has indicated its intention to proceed with the march.
In a statement, the group urged the police 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. Since then, at various protests, hundreds have been arrested for showing support for the group, which has been granted permission to challenge the ban.
The Home Secretary has affirmed the existence of “strong” powers to safeguard the freedom to protest, but noted that these can be overridden based on police advice.
“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 clarified.
The UK’s Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme 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 said.
“What transpired yesterday [Thursday’s attack] was an awful blow to us, something which actually we were fearing might happen because of the build up to this action,” he explained.
“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”.
The attack was not only “a very dark time” for Jews in Britain “but for all of our society”, he added.
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.
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,” a spokesperson told the BBC.
Zack Polanski told the BBC: “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.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has told the BBC she was “disappointed” pro-Palestinian protests went ahead on Thursday in the wake of the terror attack outside a synagogue in Manchester.
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