Palestinian-supporting protests called 'un-British' after Manchester attack, UK interior minister states
News Agency
Britain's Home Secretary voiced disappointment that Palestinian-supporting protests proceeded on Thursday evening following the terrorist incident that claimed two lives outside a Jewish place of worship in the city of Manchester.
The home secretary also called on demonstrators to "step back" from plans to hold marches in the coming days.
"I do think that proceeding in this way seems contrary to British values, it feels wrong," she remarked about demonstrations planned for this weekend.
Protesters in central London demonstrating against the Israeli navy halting a flotilla transporting aid to the Gaza Strip confronted with law enforcement outside Downing Street on Thursday night.
Large crowds displaying flags of Palestine and banners could be seen on the government district throughout the night.
London's police force stated that 40 people had been detained. A half-dozen of those arrested were arrested for assaults on law enforcement personnel.
"It is important to make a distinction between events unfolding in the Middle East and situations developing at home," the minister remarked on a morning news program on Friday.
"I would advise to people who are intending to participate in a protest is to just take a step back for a minute, and think about if you had suffered the loss of a family member to a terrorist incident in this country," she continued.
There were "substantial" measures to defend the freedom to demonstrate, she mentioned, but they could be set aside on the guidance of the law enforcement.
"I can act based from the law enforcement, if they were to advise me there was an lack of capacity to handle and to oversee the protests, then there are legal measures that are available," she explained.
Community representatives express worries
The UK's senior rabbinical leader stated that many members of the Jewish population asked why protests in support of Palestinian causes had been allowed to occur.
The organization was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July. At numerous protests since then, numerous individuals have been taken into custody for showing support for the organization, which has won approval to contest the proscription.
"Some of them contain outright antisemitism, direct support for Hamas. Not every single person, however there is a significant amount of these elements, which certainly is risky to many within our society," the chief rabbi stated.
"You cannot separate the rhetoric on our streets, the conduct of individuals in this manner, and what inevitably results, which was Thursday's terror incident."
Additionally, he called on the government "repeatedly", to "assert authority on these demonstrations, they are risky."