Palestinian-supporting protests described as 'un-British' in the wake of Manchester terror incident, UK interior minister declares

Protest scene Media Agency

Britain's Home Secretary expressed disappointment that Palestinian-supporting demonstrations continued on Thursday following the terrorist incident that took two lives near a Jewish place of worship in the city of Manchester.

Britain's top security official also called on demonstrators to "pause" from intentions to hold marches in the next few days.

"I believe that continuing in this manner seems un-British, it feels wrong," she remarked about demonstrations scheduled for this weekend.

Protesters in central London demonstrating against the Israeli navy stopping a aid convoy carrying aid to the Gaza Strip had confrontations with police officers outside Downing Street on Thursday evening.

Large crowds carrying flags of Palestine and signs could be seen on Whitehall throughout the evening.

London's Metropolitan Police reported that 40 people had been detained. A half-dozen of those arrested were detained over attacks against law enforcement personnel.

"It is important to establish separation between what is happening in the Middle East and situations developing at in our country," the minister told a breakfast show on Friday.

"I would advise to individuals who are considering to participate in a protest is to pause and reflect for a moment, and imagine if you had lost a close relative to a terrorist incident in this nation," she emphasized.

There were "robust" authorities to safeguard the freedom to demonstrate, she stated, but they could be overridden on the guidance of the law enforcement.

"I can act based from the police, if they were to inform me there was an lack of capacity to respond and to control the protests, then there are powers that are available," she explained.

Community leaders voice worries

Britain's Chief Rabbi stated that many people of the Jewish community wondered why marches in solidarity of Palestinian causes had been allowed to occur.

The movement was proscribed as a terror group in July. At numerous demonstrations since then, hundreds have been detained for showing support for the organization, which has won approval to challenge the proscription.

"A portion of them contain outright antisemitism, direct backing for the militant group. Not every single person, however there is a significant amount of this, which clearly poses dangerous to many within our community," the religious leader stated.

"There's no distinction between the words on our streets, the behavior of individuals in this way, and what subsequently occurs, which was yesterday's terrorist attack."

He also urged the government "yet again", to "assert authority on these demonstrations, they are risky."

Jeffery Alvarez II
Jeffery Alvarez II

A software engineer and writer passionate about AI, mindfulness, and sharing knowledge to empower others.