Arrests at pro-Palestine protest amid condemnation from politicians
Arrests at pro-Palestine rally as protest goes ahead despite calls to cancel
- Arrests have been made at a pro-Palestine protest in London's Trafalgar Square, which proceeded despite calls from politicians and police to reconsider.
- The demonstration, organised by Defend Our Juries, was a silent vigil supporting Palestine Action and reading names of Palestinian children killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
- Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and police chiefs urged the cancellation of the protest, citing the recent terror attack in Manchester and the need to respect the grief of British Jews.
- A vicar and two elderly men were among those arrested in London, while a similar protest in Manchester saw pro-Palestinian marchers confronted by counter-protesters.
- Jewish community leaders criticised the protests as "phenomenally tone deaf", though organisers defended their right to protest against what they described as an "ongoing, real-time genocide in Gaza".