The Campaign against Antisemitism is set to protest outside Downing Street this evening, calling for an end to what it calls ‘hate marches’ supporting Palestine.
The commitment comes in response to pro-Palestine student protests held across the UK on Tuesday, which went ahead despite Sir Keir Starmer’s warning to call them off due to the significance of the date for the Jewish community.
October 7 marked two years since terrorist group Hamas attacked the Nova Music Festival in Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 200 hostage, according to the BBC.
This catalysed a conflict that the Gaza Health Ministry says has killed around 60,000 Palestinians and left student activists outraged at the number of civilians killed by Israeli forces or by famine in the region, prompting yesterday’s protests across UK university campuses.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “It is sickening that such marches have been permitted on the two-year anniversary of the worst anti-Jewish massacre since the Holocaust, while Hamas still holds hostages in the dungeons of Gaza.
“These demonstrations are the scenes of celebrations of terrorism, just a week after Jews were murdered by Jihad Al-Shamie on British soil.”
Neyma, a 22-year-old student from University College London, responded to Keir Starmer’s claims that it was ‘un-British to have little respect for others’ by demonstrating on the anniversary, saying: “We are commemorating lives that have been lost everywhere.
“And I think it’s unfair for Keir Starmer to say not to protest.
“We have a right to protest. We’re going to utilise that right.
“We do sympathise with the families that have lost their lives but that’s not to say that just because something’s happened we’ve got to put a hold on everything.”
Uthman Ahmad, the president of Kings College University’s Students for Justice for Palestine Society (SJP), expressed that October 7 also represented more than just Hamas’ terrorist attack, saying on Tuesday:
“Today represents the beginning of two years of genocide. The reality of the situation is that Israel daily commits war crimes in Gaza, daily commits war crimes in the West Bank, and we can no longer turn a blind eye.
“Today marks two years, yes, of the genocide beginning, but also it marks 77 years since the Nakba, since 750,000 Palestinians were forced out of their lands.”
Chants of From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free were heard at the inter-university march, which saw students from University College London, King’s College London and other London-based institutions march through the capital with banners and flags.
The phrase, which some characterise as antisemitic and a call for the eradication of Israel, may soon be reviewed by police as Starmer says he is considering a crackdown on specific inflammatory chants at pro-Palestine protests.
Ahmad, 22, said that the protest was not intended to intimidate the Jewish community.
“I am absolutely shocked that people are calling any form of protest on this day antisemitic. I have no issue with Judaism or Jewish people. I love Jewish people,” he said.
“My issue is when people, wherever they may be, whatever religion they may be, if they believe that the killing of innocent mothers and fathers and children is acceptable, that is what I don’t believe.
“That is what I do not accept, and what I’ll never accept.”
Starmer’s move comes amid wider pressure on the government to address antisemitism in the UK following a car ramming and stabbing attack in Manchester last week, which claimed the lives of two Jewish people outside a synagogue.
The spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “We are protesting outside Downing Street on Thursday evening to demand that the Government take immediate and decisive action to protect British Jews from the threat of terrorism, including by stopping the hate marches.
“The blood of British Jews is on the hands of politicians who have appeased extremists, police chiefs who have failed to enforce the law, universities and media who have turned a blind eye, and regulators who have done too little for too long.”
Neyma also expressed anger at the government, calling the Prime Minister ‘Keir Silencer’ for his heavy handed tactics in proscribing the direct action group Palestine Action.
Nearly 500 people were arrested for supporting the organisation at a peaceful protest on Saturday.
Arrests may continue to rise at future protests as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood pledges to give new powers to police officers to weigh up the ‘cumulative impact’ of previous protest activity and ban them if there has been ‘repeated disorder.’
Apparently addressing concerns about antisemitism at pro-Palestinian marches, Mahmood said: “These changes mark an important step in ensuring we protect the right to protest while ensuring all feel safe in this country.”
Featured image credit: Suha Kidwai
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