Met Police Make Nearly 500 Arrests at Pro-Palestinian Protests Since October
MANCHESTER, UK – The Metropolitan Police have made nearly 500 arrests linked to pro-Palestinian protests across the UK since October, amid heightened tensions following the conflict in Gaza and a recent attack targeting a Manchester synagogue. The arrests come as demonstrations continue,including a march in Manchester marking “two years of genocide in Gaza,” according to the Manchester Palestine Movement.
Separate protests where held in Manchester by the Manchester Palestine Movement and Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine,drawing around 100 supporters to each event outside Manchester cathedral. The protests occurred days after Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz were killed when Jihad Al-Shamie drove a car into people outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue. Al-Shamie attempted to enter the synagogue before being shot dead by police; three others were injured.
The Community Security Trust, a charity providing security for the jewish community, criticized the timing of the protests as “phenomenally tone deaf,” arguing they diverted police resources from protecting Jewish communities. “For so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians,” said Dave Rich of the CST to BBC Radio 4’s Today program. “The two are not the same. And I think it’s remarkably self absorbed and insensitive to say the least.”
The arrests also relate to support for Palestine Action,a group proscribed under anti-terrorism legislation in July following activist actions at an RAF base where military aircraft were damaged. Hundreds have been arrested for demonstrating support for the group, which is currently challenging the ban in court. Palestine Action has urged the Met to ”prioritise protecting the community, rather than arresting those peacefully holding signs.”
Israel has consistently denied accusations of genocide in Gaza. However, last month the world’s leading association of genocide scholars stated that Israel’s conduct meets the legal definition of genocide as outlined in the UN convention.
