British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged students to skip pro-Palestinian protests planned for the second anniversary on Tuesday of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack in Israel, suggesting they were disrespectful.
Students from several London universities were due to walk out of classes at 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) before marching through the centre of the British capital.
Rallies or events including vigils were also planned in other UK cities, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Sheffield and Manchester, where an attack outside a synagogue on Thursday left two people dead — one killed in the attack, the other dying after suffering a fatal gunshot, likely from armed police officers.
Writing in the Times newspaper, Starmer alleged that regular pro-Palestinian protests have been used by some as a “despicable excuse to attack British Jews for something over which they have absolutely no responsibility”.
He called that “a total loss of empathy and humanity”.
Citing Tuesday’s planned protests, Starmer wrote: “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.”
The Jewish Bloc for Palestine said on Saturday the government was trying “to weaponise the fear and grief of our community by resurrecting a slur — that those protesting for Palestine represent a danger to Jews”.
In a separate statement marking the anniversary, Starmer said the past two years had seen “rising antisemitism” in the UK, including the car ramming and stabbing attack in Manchester, which took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
“This is a stain on who we are, and this country will always stand tall and united against those who wish harm and hatred upon Jewish communities,” said the British leader.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized 251 hostages, 47 of whom are still in Gaza. Of those, the Israeli military says 25 are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 67,160 Palestinians over the last two years, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.
“Since that awful day, so many have endured a living nightmare,” Starmer said, vowing to continue efforts to bring home British hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
The prime minister, who made the landmark move for the UK to recognise a state of Palestine last month alongside other allies, welcomed the US plan “towards peace in the Middle East” in his statement.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations went ahead over the weekend in Britain, despite pleas by the government for protesters to refrain from gathering following the Manchester attack.
Activist group Defend Our Juries said calling for an end to pro-Palestinian protests following the Manchester attack were “wrongly conflating the actions of the Israeli state with all Jews”.
“Jewish people around the world are not responsible for Israel’s crimes and there are many Jewish people who do not support the actions of the Israeli state,” DOJ’s Zoe Cohen said on Saturday.
Separately, about 3,000 people gathered in central London on Sunday for a commemorative event to mark the October 7 anniversary, waving Israeli and Union Jack flags and holding posters of hostages.
