Socialist Worker Urges Palestine Movement to Keep Protesting After Synagogue Attack in Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Two Jewish men, Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, were killed in an attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester on Thursday. According to the report, Daulby was killed by Jihad Al-Shamie, while Cravitz was accidentally shot by police officers at the scene. Al-Shamie was also shot dead by police.

Socialist Worker argues that the British state, mainstream media and some supporters of Israel are using the attack to call for a crackdown on the Palestine movement and a ban on its marches. The article says antisemitism is on the rise and must be opposed wherever it appears, describing it as a far-right ideology driven by forces such as the Trump movement in the United States and fascists in Britain. It states that the Palestine movement will remain on the streets and rejects the view that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.

The article reports that anti-racist, faith and community organisations and thousands of ordinary people expressed horror at the attack and solidarity with Jewish people. It also says that some voices in the public grief were using the attack to criminalise Palestine solidarity activism.

Several public figures are quoted in the piece. The Daily Mail, according to the article, condemned Thursday evening protests against Israel’s attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla as a “staggering display of disdain for the victims,” and criticised a Manchester protest where people carried Palestinian flags and a banner reading “Israel is guilty of genocide.” Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis criticised mass Palestine demonstrations in London, saying they were spreading antisemitism, and told Radio 4, “We call on the government yet again to get a grip on these demonstrations, they are dangerous.” Dame Louise Ellman, vice president of the Jewish Leadership Council, blamed the attack on the “normalisation of hatred of Jews.” She also accused Keir Starmer of feeding antisemitism by joining other European governments in recognising a Palestinian state. The article notes that Ellman resigned from the Labour Party in 2019 in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, and that she pointed to doctors wearing badges, while the article states that NHS workers have been sacked for expressing support for Palestine.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, speaking on Friday morning, condemned Palestine protests as “unBritish.” The article responds that opposing funding or arming what it calls a genocide is not “unBritish.” Mahmood said the Saturday protest should be cancelled to “show some humanity” and “kindness” to grieving families, a call made in the context of mourning (Psalm 34:18). The article reports that the Metropolitan Police have been seeking to stop Defend Our Juries from holding its mass protest in Trafalgar Square against the banning of Palestine Action. In a statement, Defend Our Juries said the police had asked it to postpone the protest, citing “significant pressures on policing,” and replied, “Our response in short—don’t arrest us then.”

Leah Levane of Jewish Voice for Liberation, formerly Jewish Voice for Labour, told Socialist Worker that what they were hearing from Mahmood and others was “the classic of constantly equating Jews and Israel.” She said that many people had been expecting this, and added, “Antisemitism is real but often criticism of Israel is called antisemitism,”

Source: Read the original report