UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood condemns ‘un-British’ protests after terror attack

London, Oct 3 (PTI) UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Friday condemned violent clashes between demonstrators protesting the Israel-Hamas conflict and police officers as “fundamentally un-British” soon after a terrorist attack at a synagogue in Manchester on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.

Thursday’s terror attack in northern England resulted in two killings – one of them believed to have been hit by police gunfire, as the attacker, named as 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent, was shot dead by armed officers. Soon after, a planned pro-Palestinian protest near Downing Street in London led to 40 arrests, with the Metropolitan Police calling on protesters planning further marches over the weekend to "delay or cancel their plans".

“I was very disappointed to see those protests going ahead last night,” Mahmood told reporters on a visit to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester – the site of the terrorist attack.

“I think that behaviour is fundamentally un-British. I think it is dishonourable. I would have wanted those individuals to just take a step back. The issues that are driving those protests have been going on for some time. They don’t look like they are going to come to an end any time soon. They could have given a community that has suffered just a day or two to process what has happened,” she said.

“To anybody who is thinking about going on a protest, what I would say is imagine that it is you who has had a family member murdered on the holiest day of your faith,” she added.

The minister said she will be holding discussions with the Met Police to look at any further steps that may be required at a time when police resources are already overstretched.  “We can get back to your protest later. Just because you have the freedom to protest doesn’t mean you have to use it,” she said.

It came as Greater Manchester Police released further information around Thursday’s attack, naming the two victims as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66. Three other men remain in hospital with serious injuries, one believed to have also been hit by a stray police bullet, one having sustained a stab wound and the third being struck by the car involved in the attack.  The attacker wore what later emerged to be a fake suicide vest as he drove into crowds at the gate of the synagogue before stabbing worshippers in an effort to gain entry inside the locked doors. The police were at the site soon, with the attacker, later identified as Jihad Al-Shamie, shot dead within seven minutes of the first emergency call.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose wife Victoria belongs to the Jewish faith, cut short a visit to Denmark to return to Downing Street for emergency meetings. In a video message aimed at the country’s Jewish communities, he condemned the “vile individual” behind the terrorist attack on their holiest day and said antisemitism must be defeated.

“To every Jewish person in this country, I also want to say this: I know how much fear you will be holding inside of you. I really do. And so, on behalf of our country, I express my solidarity, but also my sadness that you still have to live with these fears,” said Starmer.

“Nobody should have to do that — nobody. And so, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to guarantee you the security you deserve, starting with a more visible police presence, protecting your community,” he said. PTI AK SKS SKS