The United Kingdom’s government and police urged organizers of a planned anti-Israel protest to cancel the event following this week’s deadly synagogue attack, saying demonstrators should “respect the grief of British Jews.”
“I know that planned protests over the weekend, just a few days before the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, as well as in the shadow of the Manchester attack, will cause distress,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote in an opinion piece for The Jewish Chronicle. He called on the protest organizers to reconsider and to “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,” Starmer added.
UK SYNAGOGUE ATTACK AND HAMAS HOSTAGE CRISIS UNDERSCORE DEADLY YOM KIPPUR
Anti-Israel protesters in the U.K. went ahead with their demonstration, disregarding pleas from the government and police to cancel the event after this week’s deadly synagogue attack.
London Metropolitan Police, often called the Met, not only urged organizers to cancel or delay the protest, but also sent a warning that there would be arrests.
“By deliberately choosing to encourage mass lawbreaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing valuable resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most,” Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said in a statement.
Rowley said that if Defend Our Juries did not heed warnings to delay or cancel the protest, the group should be aware that its activities would be met with police response. He said the Met would “call in support from forces across the U.K.” to manage the protest if necessary.
Defend Our Juries remained defiant, refusing to cancel the protest. As demonstrators gathered in London’s iconic Trafalgar Square on Saturday, they held signs reading, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
U.K. Parliament moved to ban Palestine Action in July, saying the group’s “orchestration and enaction of aggressive and intimidatory attacks” passed the thresholds established in the Terrorism Act 2000.
However, Defend Our Juries, the organization behind Saturday’s protest, is demanding the ban be lifted. Defend Our Juries claims Palestine Action was labeled a terror group “for trying to stop crimes against humanity and for exposing the British government’s complicity in genocide.”
The Met described the scene at Trafalgar Square on Saturday as “busy” and said officers made several arrests in the area. Police noted on X that “quite a few people in the crowd appear to be observing/supporting but not carrying placards themselves.”
WHO IS THE BRITISH CITIZEN OF SYRIAN DESCENT ACCUSED OF SYNAGOGUE TERROR ATTACK?
On Thursday, as Jews marked the holiest day on their calendar, Yom Kippur, an attacker targeted worshippers at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue. The attack left two dead and four others injured.
Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, were killed when 35-year-old British citizen Jihad Al Shamie, who was born in Syria, plowed his car into pedestrians and stabbed at least one other victim. U.K. police shot and killed Al Shamie at the scene. Officials said on Friday that it appeared one of the victims was accidentally shot as police tried to subdue the attacker.
UK POLICE ACCIDENTALLY SHOT VICTIM WHILE RUSHING TO STOP SYNAGOGUE ATTACKER
Gideon Falter, chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, decried the attack and criticized the lack of action by government officials and police before the deadly incident.
“This is the intifada globalized. What did you think it was? ‘Globalize the intifada’ means Jews on the ground in a pool of blood, dead outside a synagogue on the holiest day of the Jewish year,” Falter said in a video posted to X. “Where are our institutions that are supposed to make sure that this sane, tolerant, decent place remains the Britain that we know and love?”
The families of Cravitz and Daulby released tributes to their deceased loved ones.
“Melvin would do anything to help anyone. He was so kind, caring and always wanted to chat and get to know people. He was devoted to his wife, family and loved his food. He will be sorely missed by his wife, family, friends and community,” Cravitz’s family said.
“Adrian Daulby was a hero and tragically lost his life in the act of courage to save others. He was a beloved brother, loving uncle to his four nieces and one nephew and a cherished cousin. The family is shocked by the tragic, sudden death of such a lovely, down-to-earth man,” Daulby’s family said.
Police said Daulby was among the worshippers who prevented Al Shamie from entering the synagogue.
