Sir Keir Starmer has urged students not to attend pro-Palestine protests on the second anniversary of the “heinous” October 7 terror attacks on Israel and just days after two people were killed at a synagogue in Manchester.
Hundreds were arrested at a Palestine Action demonstration in London on Saturday, which went ahead despite calls from Sir Keir and others in the wake of the attack on British soil, leading Amnesty International to say it should not be the job of police to arrest people “peacefully sitting down”.
Thousands of students are expected to attend rallies on Tuesday on the second anniversary of the atrocity in which 1,200 people were killed.
But the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “Just because there is freedom to protest does not mean you should necessarily go ahead with these gatherings, given the context.”
They include events at campuses as far apart as Queen Mary University in London and Strathclyde University in Glasgow, according to reports.
Writing in The Times, Sir Keir described protests set to take place at universities on Tuesday as "un-British", claiming they show a lack of respect for others.
He added that the pro-Palestine protests have been used by some as a "despicable excuse to attack British Jews".
Sir Keir wrote in the newspaper: "Today, on the anniversary of the atrocities of October 7, students are once again planning protests.
"This is not who we are as a country. It's un-British to have so little respect for others. And that's before some of them decide to start chanting hatred towards Jewish people all over again."
Asked what Sir Keir meant when he said the planned protests were “un-British”, education secretary Bridget Phillipson told Sky News: “As a country, we've always had a sense of respect responsibility for one another and seeking to understand the deep grief that many people in our country will be experiencing as we remember those who lost their lives in the atrocities of October 7.
“But also following the appalling attack we saw on a synagogue and the loss of life last week, I think the way that we do things in this country is that whilst we have a right to protest, we understand our responsibilities to one another and our responsibilities to demonstrate empathy, compassion and respect, given the grief that many, many people in our country will today be experiencing.”
Asked if pro-Palestine protests should take place on such a sensitive date, the PM’s spokesperson said they were going ahead “despite the pleas, grief and fears that have been felt by the Jewish community. I think, as the home secretary said, people should demonstrate humanity”.
“Just because there is freedom to protest does not mean you should necessarily go ahead with these gatherings, given the context,” he added.
“People should remember the heinous terrorist attack on Israel on October 7. That should be at the front of all our minds tomorrow.”
Tory frontbencher Robert Jenrick went further and branded plans for pro-Gaza protests on October 7 a “f***ing disgrace”.
Speaking at a Spectator event at the Tory party conference in Manchester, he called for people to “show some common decency” and “think of your fellow citizens, British Jews, people who might be fearful and lonely and afraid right now, and call off those protests.“
“If they won't, then I do think we should take action, and if that requires a change in the law, then we should consider doing that, and consider the cumulative impact on communities of these protests”, he said.
Earlier, communities minister Miatta Fahnbulleh said regarding Tuesday’s protests: "This is a really tough time for the Jewish community. We have had, for the first time in our history, a Jewish person killed because they are Jewish. That is absolutely unacceptable, and we need to stand alongside the Jewish community in solidarity.
"What I would say to people is the Jewish community are our neighbours, they're our community, they're our friends and we should be compassionate and thoughtful and considerate."
Keith Black, the chair of the Jewish Leadership Council, said: “Protesting on campuses on 7 October is a disgraceful and deeply upsetting strategy to cause maximum pain to Jewish students.
"The content of these demonstrations is likely to be antisemitic and incite violence."
Louis Danker, the president of the Union of Jewish Students, told The Telegraph there were 365 days in the year, “and on one of them - October 7 - Jewish students seek the space to mourn their loved ones murdered in southern Israel”.
"No Jewish student should have to stand by as others glorify a day that marks such loss for our community,” he added.
