Pro-Palestine Protests After Synagogue Killings Spark Fury
In Manchester a terror attack left two Jewish worshippers dead and several others injured after a knife assault outside a synagogue by 35-year-old Jihad…
Violent clashes, dozens of arrests and a wave of controversy marked pro-Palestinian protests held in defiance of police pleas just hours after a deadly synagogue terror attack, raising stark questions over timing, intent and the troubling optics now confronting Britain
In Manchester a terror attack left two Jewish worshippers dead and several others injured after a knife assault outside a synagogue by 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent who was subsequently shot by armed police.
In the immediate aftermath one might reasonably expect a pause, a moment of solemn reflection, or at the very least restraint from further public disorder. Instead Britain was treated to the sight of pro-Palestinian demonstrations, some long-scheduled and some hastily convened, proceeding regardless of police warnings and common sense alike.
The Metropolitan Police had urged organisers of the principal London march, fronted by Defend Our Juries, to postpone in order that stretched resources could be diverted to the protection of vulnerable communities. That plea was ignored.
The event went ahead, accompanied by the predictable disorder and the equally predictable violence, culminating in more than forty arrests from a relatively modest gathering. The irony is stark when set against the recent Unite the Kingdom march which drew upwards of four hundred thousand people yet produced just twenty-six arrests. One crowd dwarfs the other by several orders of magnitude, yet it is the smaller one that ends in scenes of chaos.
Compounding this display was the addition of a smaller flash protest on Whitehall, hastily called outside of the main event. This one, police confirmed, was assembled only hours after the Manchester killings and it was here that most of the arrests occurred.
Whether or not intended, the optics are unmistakable. A synagogue attack leaves two Jewish citizens murdered, the assailant’s name happens, with gruesome irony, to be
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, and almost immediately a demonstration takes place that can be read—morally if not legally—as aligned with that act of violence. The claim by organisers that their cause is wholly separate collapses under the weight of such timing.
The home secretary said she was "disappointed" pro-Palestinian protests went ahead on Thursday in the aftermath of the synagogue attack in which two men were killed.
Shabana Mahmood also called for demonstrators to "step back" from plans to hold marches this weekend.
she said.
What we are watching is a replay of the old fable of the Emperor’s New Clothes. It is paraded before us as legitimate protest, but in reality it is nakedly ill-judged, a procession of political exhibitionism that the public are encouraged to admire rather than question.
Once again it falls to those prepared to shout the obvious to point out the absurdity: that in the wake of an antisemitic killing spree, Britain witnessed demonstrations that could be construed as tacit endorsement. Are others genuinely blind to this, or are they simply too frightened of social disfavour to state it?
The law affords the right to protest. It does not, however, confer the right to immunity from scrutiny. When the decision to proceed is made in direct defiance of police requests, when the result is disproportionate disorder and arrest, and when the timing itself appears a provocation, the defence of lawful protest is wafer thin.
The optics are appalling, the irony inescapable. A man named Jihad slaughters Jews at their place of worship, and Britain’s response—at least in part—is a public march that, whether intentionally or not, gives the appearance of marching for Jihad. The fable plays out once more, and it is left to the little boy in the crowd to ask aloud what so many can see but dare not say.
At this most grievous hour we at Video Production News extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives and our steadfast solidarity to Jewish communities across the United Kingdom.
We stand with them now and in the days ahead, pledging our continued and unwavering support as they endure this appalling moment and look towards a future in which their safety, dignity and right to worship without fear are fully protected.
