October 5, 2025 | 04:18 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - London police arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Saturday, October 4, 2025, after a protest continued despite official requests to cancel it. The request followed a deadly attack at a Manchester synagogue just days earlier.
On Thursday, October 2, two people were killed in an attack in the northwest English city. The assailant, a British man of Syrian descent, was shot dead by police and is suspected by counterterrorism authorities of being inspired by extremist ideology.
Despite pleas from the police and government, organizers refused to call off the protest, which had been planned before the attack. The demonstration was organized to oppose the government's ban on the pro-Palestinian group, Palestine Action, under anti-terrorism laws.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged calm. "I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognize and respect the grief of British Jews. This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain. It is a time to stand together," he said on Saturday, as reported by Al Arabiya.
Police detained the demonstrators in central London's Trafalgar Square. The arrests occurred as participants were writing slogans on placards expressing support for Palestine Action, which was banned in July after its members broke into an airbase and damaged military aircraft.
Hundreds of people gathered for the protest. As police escorted the arrested, unresisting demonstrators through the crowd, onlookers applauded and cheered for those arrested, shouting "shame on you" at the officers.
"I’m disgusted by the police actually, they shouldn’t be arresting non-violent protesters here," said demonstrator Angie Zelter.
"We have a right to protest and Palestine Action is not a violent organization, should never have been proscribed in the first place."
Additionally, six individuals were arrested separately on Westminster Bridge, outside the parliament building, for unfurling Palestine Action banners.
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