Pro-Palestinian protests described as 'un-British' in the wake of Manchester terror incident, British interior minister asserts

Protest image News Source

Britain's Home Secretary expressed regret that Palestinian-supporting demonstrations proceeded on Thursday evening following the terrorist incident that took two lives near a synagogue in Manchester.

The top security official also urged demonstrators to "pause" from plans to stage protests in the coming days.

"In my view that continuing in this fashion appears contrary to British values, it feels wrong," she stated about demonstrations arranged for this weekend.

Protesters in downtown London demonstrating against the Israel's naval forces halting a flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza Strip confronted with police officers near the Prime Minister's residence on Thursday evening.

Substantial groups displaying flags of Palestine and placards could be observed on Whitehall throughout the evening.

London's Metropolitan Police stated that fourty individuals had been detained. A half-dozen of those detained were charged with assaults on police officers.

"It is important to make a distinction between what is happening in the Middle Eastern region and situations developing at in our country," the minister remarked on a morning news program on Friday.

"I would advise to people who are planning to participate in a demonstration is to reconsider briefly for a moment, and think about if you had lost a loved one to a terror attack in this country," she added.

There were "robust" powers to safeguard the right to protest, she stated, but they could be overridden on the advice of the law enforcement.

"I can act based from the police, if they were to advise me there was an insufficient resources to handle and to police the protests, then there are powers that are accessible," she clarified.

Community leaders express apprehensions

The UK's Chief Rabbi remarked that many members of the Jewish community questioned why protests in solidarity of Palestinian advocacy groups had been permitted to take place.

The organization was banned as a terrorist organisation in the summer. At numerous protests after that, hundreds have been arrested for expressing solidarity for the organization, which has won approval to dispute the proscription.

"Some of them feature blatant anti-Jewish sentiment, clear support for the militant group. Not everyone involved, however there is considerable of this, which certainly is risky to many within our society," the religious leader declared.

"It's impossible to disconnect the speech on our public spaces, the conduct of individuals in this manner, and what inevitably results, which was Thursday's violent act."

Additionally, he called on the government "repeatedly", to "get a grip on these demonstrations, they are dangerous."

Tina Green
Tina Green

A seasoned career coach with over a decade of experience in HR and talent development, passionate about empowering job seekers.