By Helen Rowe and Caroline Taix, AFP
A protester is taken away by police officers at a "Lift The Ban" demonstration in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action, calling for the recently imposed ban to be lifted, in Trafalgar Square, central London. Photo: AFP / Justin Tallis
UK pro-Palestinian protests went ahead Saturday despite a plea from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, two days after a deadly car-ramming and knife attack on a synagogue.
Six people - three men and three women - remained in custody on suspicion of terrorism-linked offences following Thursday's attack.
Two people were killed and three others seriously wounded in the assault in the northwestern city of Manchester on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
Police shot dead assailant Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old UK citizen of Syrian descent, within minutes of the alarm being raised.
The attack has heightened fear among Britain's Jewish community.
Police said they were patrolling places of worship across the city "with a particular focus on providing a high-visibility presence within our Jewish communities".
The attack on Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in north Manchester was one of the worst antisemitic incidents in Europe since the October 7, 2023, attack in Israel led by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 66,288 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the occupied territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
The conflict has inflamed passions in Britain, with frequent pro-Palestinian rallies in cities that some critics allege have stoked antisemitism.
Around 1000 people on Saturday gathered in Trafalgar Square in central London to show their support for the banned Palestine Action group, organisers Defend Our Juries said.
A spokesperson said the group "stood in solidarity" with the Jewish community over the attack, adding that "cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win".
A smaller demonstration organised by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine attracted about 100 people in the city.
A protester holds a placard at a "Lift The Ban" demonstration in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action, calling for the recently imposed ban to be lifted, in Trafalgar Square, central London. Photo: AFP / Justin Tallis
Accidental shooting
Ahead of the demonstrations, Starmer urged protesters not to join the rallies.
"I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews. This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain," he said on X.
Police said they had arrested at least 442 people at the London protest "for supporting a proscribed organisation".
Since the government banned the group in early July, supporting it has become a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act 2000 and hundreds of people have been arrested at multiple protests.
"I'm ready to be arrested," a 21-year-old student, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
"The ban of Palestine Action is undemocratic. It shouldn't be a terrorist group, they haven't killed anybody," he said.
David Cannon, 73, chair of the Jewish Network for Palestine said the demonstration was "totally separate" to what had happened in Manchester.
"There's nothing Jewish about genocide, about apartheid, about ethnic cleansing," he said.
The UK police watchdog, meanwhile, said it would probe the police shooting of attacker Shamie.
The investigation would also examine the shooting dead, most likely by police, of one of the incident's two victims who suffered a fatal gunshot as well as a third person who was shot but survived.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said there was no evidence anyone other than police used firearms at the scene, meaning both were accidentally shot by armed officers as they tackled Shamie.
"Our independent investigation will look at circumstances surrounding the fatal police shooting of Jihad Al-Shamie," it said in a statement.
"A post mortem has today (Friday) concluded another man who died at the scene suffered a fatal gunshot wound."
- AFP
