Police start arresting pro-Palestinian protestors after organisers refused to cancel demo following synagogue terror attack

Police have started arresting pro-Palestinian protestors in London after organisers refused to cancel the demonstration after a synagogue terror attack earlier this week.  

The Prime Minister had urged groups behind the demonstrations in Manchester and London along with attendees to ‘respect the grief of British Jews’ as he said the events could cause further pain to mourners.

However, a protest in central London campaigning against the proscription of Palestine Action went ahead, after organisers from group Defend Our Juries had a public spat with the Metropolitan Police and refused to call it off.

The organisation said: ‘Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win.’

Meanwhile, a march held by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine, which has taken place regularly over the last two years, is also taking place.

It was referenced by members of the public who heckled Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy when he spoke at a vigil near the attack on Friday.

It comes after a protest in support of members of a flotilla attempting to reach Gaza, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, held in Whitehall, central London just hours after the fatal attack on Thursday evening descended into chaos.

Some 40 people were arrested as protesters clashed with police officers. 

Early on Saturday afternoon, a group of people attending the Defend Our Juries protest unfurled a banner on Westminster Bridge which read: ‘We oppose genocide. We support Palestine Action.’

Six people were arrested after unfurling the banner for expressing support for a proscribed organisation, the Met said. 

Officers from the Met Police then began making arrests amongst protesters who were declaring their support for Palestine Action.

An estimate from organisers Defend Our Juries suggested around 700 people gathered in Trafalgar Square, half the number they had predicted. At 1pm, many unveiled signs which said they supported Palestine Action. 

As officers made arrests, others in the crowd chanted: ‘Free, free Palestine.’ 

One protester who gave her name only as Bridget, is a 73-year-old retired health service worker from Yorkshire.

After being arrested by officers, she told the Mail said: ‘I don’t care. I welcome it. The police have been very pleasant.

‘Manchester was horrific. But it won’t stop me being here today.’

Hilary Callam, 83, from Hampton Court, west London, said she was prepared to be arrested for the first time in her life.

She said: ‘I have very strong feelings against this ban. We are not direct action. We’re not violent.

‘The arguments not to come this week were convincing and heartfelt. I was in two minds. But I wouldn’t want to let terror win.

‘I have never been arrested before. I would not rule out coming back. I am not worried about being arrested today.’

Finlay Hoskins, 26, from Southampton, is also set to get arrested today.

Finlay, who is on disability benefits, said: ‘I don’t support the government. What happened on October 7 is horrible. What happened in Manchester is horrible.

‘I have my sign which supports Palestine Action. I don’t care. I’m scared. But it’s the right thing.’

As the Met began making arrests in London, the force said in a statement: ‘Officers have begun making arrests in Trafalgar Square where people are displaying placards in support of Palestine Action.

‘The square is busy, but quite a few people in the crowd appear to be observing/supporting but not carrying placards themselves.’

In Manchester, around 50 pro-Palestine supporters gathered in the city centre ahead of a march on Saturday. A handful of counter protesters holding Union Jack flags were also present along with a number of police officers keeping watch.

Many of the pro-Palestinian group stood sheltering under umbrellas to shield from the relentless rain falling on Saturday afternoon.

Among the group were members of the Jewish community, who held a sign reading ‘Jewish action for Palestine’. 

One speaker outside Manchester Cathedral ended with a vow to ‘dismantle the Zionist state’ to cheers and applause from the crowd.

Protesters were told a national march is planned in London next week and in Manchester they will march again on October 7, the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel in which around 1,200 Jews were killed and 240 hostages were taken.

The protesters then moved off en masse to march through the city centre. As they set off, a group of counter-protesters shouted ‘f*** Hamas’ and ‘release the hostages’.

The Prime Minister was among politicians, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who said the protests should be delayed or cancelled.

And the shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called for the ‘disgraceful’ protests to be banned. 

The leaders of the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police had said covering protests would stretch resources.

Police forces have deployed extra officers to synagogues and other Jewish buildings to offer protection and reassurance in the aftermath of the attack.

However Defend Our Juries rejected the calls.

A spokesman said the group ‘stood in solidarity’ with the Jewish community over the attack.

He said: ‘It couldn’t be clearer that 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 and the Government’s complicity in the genocide being committed by the Israeli government.

‘Yesterday’s attack was actual terrorism and we join others across the country in condemning it unreservedly and we urge the Home Secretary and the police to prioritise protecting the community, instead of arresting entirely peaceful protesters.

‘Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win.

‘It’s more important than ever to defend our democracy, including our fundamental rights to peaceful protest and freedom of speech, and to take a stand tomorrow against killing and against oppression, and for peace and justice for all.’

In a statement on social media, the group spoke about what the Met should do if it is concerned about the resources arresting protesters will take up: ‘Don’t arrest us then’.

Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, were killed following the attack outside Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester on Thursday morning.

Greater Manchester Police admitted yesterday that one of the deceased men was shot by officers, adding a second victim sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound.

The victims had been standing behind the synagogue door at the time. It is believed both were trying to stop the Islamic terrorist from gaining entry.

The tragedy occurred as they shot dead attacker Jihad al-Shamie, 35, who had driven his car at members of the public stabbing people with a knife while wearing a fake suicide vest. 

In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said it is not believed that attacker Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was armed with a gun.

A source told the Times a bullet scraped one man’s leg and entered the stomach of a second, who died.

Rabbi Daniel Walker confirmed on Friday that it was Mr Daulby who was accidentally shot by police. 

Syrian-born Al-Shamie, who came to the UK as a young child and was granted British citizenship in 2006, was also shot dead by police. He was not known to counter-terror police or security services prior to Thursday’s attack.

A total of six other people have been arrested by police on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.

Greater Manchester Police referred itself to the police watchdog, the IOPC, over the incident, and the body has launched an independent investigation. 

Sir Keir had said pro-Palestine protests could cause further turmoil for families of victims and the Jewish communities.

Of particular concern is the event in London, which is expected to follow a similar pattern as recent weeks and see protesters sit peacefully while displaying signs in support of Palestine Action, which was proscribed as a terror group in July. 

Saturday could see one of the largest-ever gatherings at Trafalgar Square in central London in support of Palestine Action. More than 1,500 people have pledged to descend on the capital in support of the group, risking arrest as they do so. 

Writing in The Jewish Chronicle, and The Jewish News, the Prime Minister said: ‘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.’

Meanwhile the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Sir Stephen Watson urged would-be attendees at the protest to ‘consider whether this is really the right time’.

He added: ‘You could do the responsible and sensitive thing and refrain, on this occasion, from protesting in a manner which is likely to add to the trauma currently being experienced by our Jewish community.’

On Friday the Deputy Prime Minister and former Foreign Secretary David Lammy was booed by members of the Jewish community at a vigil for the victims of the terror attack. 

In astonishing scenes, the Deputy Prime Minister was told by furious members of Manchester’s Jewish community that he had ‘blood on his hands’.

Amid chants of ‘shame on you’, Mr Lammy was also accused of allowing anti-Semitism to grow on the streets, and urged to ‘stop the marches’ by pro-Palestinian groups.

Mr Lammy, who as Foreign Secretary over the past year imposed restrictions on arms sales to Israel and twice summoned its ambassador to criticise its handling of the conflict in Gaza, addressed a hostile crowd of hundreds who had gathered in torrential rain to pay tribute to the victims.

He faced calls of ‘go to Palestine, leave us alone’ and ‘shame on you’. One man shouted: ‘You are all guilty. You have allowed Jew hatred in Manchester, on the streets.’

The 1,500 people expected to turn out in London include ‘priests, vicars, pensioners and healthcare workers’, according to organisers.

Pro-Palestine protests in central London have seen thousands attend since Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.

A demonstration near Downing Street on Thursday saw 40 people arrested after clashes with police.

Six arrests were ‘for assaults on police officers’, the Metropolitan Police said.

The proscription of Palestine Action has become a focal point of the campaign for activists in recent months.

The previous two events have seen a total of 1,422 people arrested, the majority for supporting a proscribed organisation.

The Met has continued to urge the group to call off its plans, in a statement which echoed the earlier sentiments of Ms Mahmood.

In a statement, the force’s Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said: ‘At a time when we want to be deploying every available officer to ensure the safety of those communities, we are instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation.

‘By deliberately choosing to encourage mass law breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most.’

He added: ‘Continuing such protests within hours of Thursday’s awful terrorist murder of British Jews, when communities are most fearful, will likely create further tensions and some might say lacks sensitivity.’

Sir Stephen urged protesters in Manchester to reconsider.

The Chief Constable said: ‘I am directly appealing to all those who might be intending to protest this weekend to consider whether this is really the right time.

‘You could do the responsible and sensitive thing and refrain, on this occasion, from protesting in a manner which is likely to add to the trauma currently being experienced by our Jewish community.’

He added: ‘I would call upon the common decency and humanity of all people across Greater Manchester to aid us in seeking to support our Jewish communities following such a horrific attack.’

And speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, Chris Philp, shadow home secretary told BBC Breakfast: ‘I think it’s extremely insensitive, grossly insensitive to the Jewish community in Manchester, but across the whole United Kingdom, who are still grieving following the appalling murder that we saw on Thursday morning.

‘And secondly, both the police in Greater Manchester, but also the Metropolitan Police in London have said that the resources, the police resources required to police these protests mean they may not be able to properly protect synagogues and the Jewish community at this obviously very sensitive time.

‘So for those two reasons, I think the organisers should call off these protests.

‘I think it’s frankly disgraceful that they have not done so.’

He added he would ‘go further that saying simply they should step back’, adding: ‘I think the way these protests have been organised, which are static, means that the police under the Public Order Act 1986 don’t have the power in law to prevent them.

‘So I do think we should follow the advice of John Woodcock, Lord Walney, who is reviewing the law in this area, to say that it should be widened to allow static demonstrations to be banned if it would cause serious public disruption.’

He backed crossbench peer Lord Walney’s advice that if there is ‘a significant cumulative impact on a particular community, in this case, the Jewish community, that should be taken into account as well’.

Mr Philp added: ‘If you allow anti-Jewish sentiment, antisemitism any sort of space at all, then you find sometimes it leads to tragedies like the one on Thursday.’

But human rights campaigners disagreed.

Sir Jonathon Porritt, who was one of the organisers of today’s protests, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I have no doubt whatsoever that everyone taking part in the Defend Our Juries’s silent vigil today will demonstrate huge respect and real grief for those affected by the absolute atrocity at Heaton Park.

‘But I don’t 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.’

Asked about calls from politicians to delay the protest, he said: ‘I think that would be an unwise move for Defend Our Juries. We’ve been persistent in trying to bring these concerns to the attention of the Government.’

There would be ‘nothing disrespectful’ about the ‘silent vigil’, whose attendees would have the ‘deepest concern about growing levels of antisemitism’ in the UK, Sir Jonathon said.