News Agency
Britain's Interior Minister expressed regret that pro-Palestinian protests proceeded on Thursday evening following the terror attack that claimed the lives of two men outside a Jewish place of worship in Manchester.
The home secretary also urged demonstrators to "reconsider" from plans to stage protests in the next few days.
"I do think that carrying on in this fashion appears un-British, it seems inappropriate," she remarked concerning protests scheduled for this weekend.
Demonstrators in downtown London protesting the Israel's naval forces intercepting a flotilla transporting humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip had confrontations with police officers near the Prime Minister's residence on Thursday evening.
Substantial groups displaying flags of Palestine and placards could be seen on the government district throughout the evening.
London's Metropolitan Police announced that 40 people had been taken into custody. A half-dozen of those arrested were charged with assaults on law enforcement personnel.
"It's crucial to establish separation between what is happening in the Middle Eastern region and what is happening at home," the home secretary stated during a morning news program on Friday morning.
"I would say to individuals who are planning to participate in a protest is to pause and reflect for a minute, and consider if you had lost a family member to a terrorist incident in this nation," she added.
There were "robust" authorities to protect the freedom to demonstrate, she noted, but they could be superseded on the guidance of the law enforcement.
"I can act based from the police, if they were to inform me there was an insufficient resources to manage and to oversee the protests, then there are powers that are at my disposal," she elaborated.
Community leaders express worries
The UK's Chief Rabbi stated that many people of the Jewish community wondered why marches in solidarity of Palestinian causes had been allowed to occur.
The organization was outlawed as a terrorist organisation in the summer. At multiple protests after that, numerous individuals have been taken into custody for demonstrating backing for the group, which has obtained permission to challenge the restriction.
"A portion of them contain outright antisemitism, outright support for Hamas. Not every single person, however there is so much of this, which certainly is risky to many within our community," the religious leader declared.
"You cannot separate the speech on our streets, the actions of people in this way, and what inevitably results, which was the recent terrorist attack."
He also called on the government "repeatedly", to "assert authority on these protests, they are risky."
