Pro-Palestine activists have caused significant controversy by organizing what many see as ‘disrespectful’ and ‘unpatriotic’ demonstrations shortly after the terrifying attack at a Manchester synagogue.

Hundreds gathered outside Downing Street chanting ‘free free Palestine’ while Britain’s Jewish community mourned Thursday’s tragic incident that resulted in two deaths.

The attacker, Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot and killed moments after attacking Heaton Park Synagogue. It is reported that he became a British citizen in 2006 when he was around 16.

His innocent victims have today been named as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66. They were both members of Manchester’s Jewish population. 

In an astonishing display of insensitivity towards the victims, a woman at a march last night declared she ‘doesn’t care about the Jewish community’.

In London, the situation turned chaotic as activists clashed with police outside Number 10, leading to 40 arrests, including six for alleged assaults on officers according to the Metropolitan Police.

Meanwhile, in Manchester, located just four miles from the site of the synagogue attack, numerous pro-Palestine supporters rallied at Manchester Piccadilly Station, displaying Palestinian flags and a banner accusing Israel of ‘genocide, massacre, and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian children and babies.’

As anger continues to boil over today, the Home Secretary has urged pro-Palestine activists to step back ‘for at least a few days’ and axe demonstrations this weekend, which police fear will ‘draw resources away’ from the capital ‘when they are needed most’. 

Speaking to Sky News, Shabana Mahmood said those who gathered after the attack were behaving in a ‘fundamentally un-British’ and ‘dishonourable’ way.

And with further demonstrations on the horizon, Ms Mahmood urged those who plan on protesting to show ‘some humanity’ and ‘give the Jewish community here a chance to process what has happened’.

As she called on protestors to allow Jews to ‘begin the grieving process’, the Home Secretary told GB News: ‘I am very disappointed that some of the organisers haven’t heeded the call to step back.

‘I would still call on people to show some love and some solidarity to the families of those who have been murdered and to our Jewish community.’

Saturday could see one of the largest-ever gatherings at Trafalgar Square in central London in support of Palestine Action, which was proscribed as a terror group in July. More than 1,500 people have pledged to descend on the capital in support of the group, risking arrest as they do so. 

Their action will come less than a week after 66 people were arrested at a rally  supporting Palestine Action during the first day of Labour’s party conference in Liverpool.

The Chief Rabbi said so many people in the Jewish community ‘and well beyond it’ have been left appalled by the violent marches and urged the government to ‘get a grip’ on pro-Palestine protests. 

Sir Ephraim Mirvis told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We call on the government yet again, we have been doing so continuously and yet again we say get a grip on these demonstrations, they are dangerous.’

He added: ‘Ever since October 7 2023 (when Hamas attacked Israel), there are so many people in our Jewish community and beyond it who have wondered why are such marches allowed to take place on our streets?

‘Some of them contain outright antisemitism, outright support for Hamas. Not every single person, however there is so much of this, which certainly is dangerous to many within our society.’

The Chief Rabbi – the most senior religious figure of Britain’s Jewish community – feared the marches, which have taken place almost weekly, were fuelling a rise in anti-Semitism.   

‘You cannot separate the words on our streets, the actions of people in this way, and what inevitably results, which was yesterday’s terrorist attack,’ he added. 

‘The two are directly linked and therefore we call on the Government yet again, we’ve been doing so continuously, and yet again we say get a grip on these demonstrations, they are dangerous.’

The Met has written to protest group Defend Our Juries, to cancel is planned march in the capital this weekend. 

A letter from the force shared by Defend Our Juries raised fears about the amount of police resources the protest would divert at a time when ‘visible reassurance and protective security’ is needed in communities across London.

But the protest group, which has led demonstrations against the terrorist ban on Palestine Action, has defiantly railed against the call. 

‘Today, the Metropolitan Police wrote to us to ask that we postpone Saturday’s mass protest in Trafalgar Square, citing “significant pressure on policing”,’ the group said on social media site, X. 

‘Our response in short: Don’t arrest us then.’

But in a fiery response, the Met hit back at the campaign group, accusing it of trying to ‘encourage mass law breaking’.

The force tweeted: ‘The horrific terrorist attack that took place in Manchester yesterday will have caused significant fear and concern in communities across the UK, including here in London. Yet at a time when we want to be deploying every available officer to ensure the safety of those communities, we are instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation.

‘By choosing to encourage mass law breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most. We urge them to do the responsible thing and delay or cancel their plans.’ 

Yesterday’s marches at Parliament Square saw clashes with police, with officers from the Met scuffling with protesters – some of whom wore face masks and scarves, while one person was pictured being escorted away outside Parliament.

The timing of the protest, which also took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, sparked fury from politicians and Antisemitism campaigners, including leader of the London Assembly Susan Hall who described the march in central London as ‘disgraceful, disrespectful, despicable behaviour’.

Alex Hearn, co-director of Labour Against Antisemitism, also described the marches as ‘tone deaf’ and an ‘unacceptable state of affairs that needs to be stopped for the public order’.

This morning, Robert Jenrick the shadow justice secretary, called on protesters to ‘go home’ and ‘do the right thing’. 

The Conservative MP branded the marches on the same day as the terror attack in Manchester as ‘shameful’ and ‘totally disrespectful’.

Asked on Times Radio what his message was to the pro-Palestine protesters, he said: ‘Do the decent thing, go home.

‘I thought it was shameful, totally disrespectful that you had people out on the streets, even in Manchester for goodness’ sake.’

He added: ‘There’s a right to peacefully protest, please just as British citizens, show some respect.’

The terrorist behind Thursday’s rampage was last night named as 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie.

Police said he is a British citizen of Syrian descent and police added that they are ‘working to understand the motivation’, with the attack being treated as terror-related.

The Daily Mail revealed this morning that Al-Shamie came to the UK from Syria as a young child and grew up just around the corner from the site of the attack.

He had not been referred to the Government’s anti-terror programme Prevent or was known to police or the security services, Ms Mahmood said yesterday.

Ms Mahmood said she was was ‘surprised’ by Al-Shamie’s name when interviewed on LBC.

The Home Secretary was asked about the attacker’s name, Jihad Al-Shamie, which presenter Nick Ferrari translated as ‘struggle of the Syrian’.

She responded: ‘I was very surprised to discover that name myself. Actually, as a Muslim, I’ve never heard someone being called Jihad, but it is the name that he was born with – that has always been his name.’

Police have also arrested two men aged in their 30s and a woman in her 60s on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack.

The attack, which took place on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar – saw Al-Shamoe ram his black Kia Picanto hatchback into crowds of Jewish worshippers at 9.31am, before he got out and started ‘stabbing everyone he could get to’.

Sir Keir Starmer warned that anti-Semitism is ‘a hatred rising once again’ yesterday in the wake of the attack as he condemned the sickening violence in an address to the nation.

But he faced criticism from the government of Israel after the attack, which came less than a fortnight after the UK recognised a Palestinian state in a bid to force a ceasefire in Gaza.

Defending the Prime Minister, Ms Mahmood rejected the notion that recognising Palestine has emboldened those who are anti-Semitic.

Speaking on Times Radio, she said: ‘The only person responsible for this devastating attack on our Jewish community is the attacker himself.

‘The police have made three additional arrests, and it’s important that they are allowed to continue with their investigations and our process of justice is allowed to take its course. That is separate to what is happening in the Middle East.

‘The work of this Government since the day we were elected has been to put our shoulder to the wheel in the diplomatic efforts in difficult and delicate conversations that are designed to try and bring an end to that devastating war. 

‘Far too many lives have been lost. We want to see a secure and safe state of Israel alongside a state of Palestine.’

It is believed terrorist Al-Shamie was a father – with a photo shared by his own father last year showing him holding a baby in his arms. The Facebook post was captioned ‘great welcome grandson’.

Videos on YouTube show him and his two brothers playing in the back yard of a home on Crescent Road, which is around a 20-minute walk from the synagogue he later targeted. 

The clips were shared by the killer’s father Faraj Al-Shamie, who is believed to be a trauma doctor who has worked for several NGOs in warzones across the world.

It is understood the family has lived in Greater Manchester for at least 30 years – and currently live in Prestwich, around two miles from the scene of the terror attack. 

Al-Shamie’s name was last night linked to a property in the town – with a neighbour recognising his face from photographs of the synagogue attacker. 

Al-Shamie is understood to have worked as a tutor teaching English and computer programming. 

It is not known whether he came to the UK as an asylum seeker or whether it was through another immigration route, such as ‘family reunion’ which can allow foreign nationals to join relatives already in Britain.

As well as the two men killed yesterday, three other Jewish worshippers were also rushed to hospital with serious injuries, one with stab wounds and the other hurt by being hit by the car.

Police said officers were ‘working to understand the motivation behind the attack’.

Further checks are being carried out to see if any of his details appear anywhere in records of other investigations.

Al-Shamie tried to force his way inside the synagogue, but was prevented in doing so by hero Rabbi Daniel Walker, who barricaded worshippers inside.

Father-of-three Yoni Finlay also helped to stop him from going inside. He was said to have been injured by a stray bullet when armed police shot Al-Shamie dead seven minutes after the horror unfolded. 

Mr Finlay was taken to hospital following the attack and is said to have undergone surgery.

It is unclear whether he was accidentally shot or was injured from shrapnel and flying glass from the impact of the bullet on the door. 

‘Marauding’ terrorist Al-Shamie had been seen wearing what was feared to be a vest with an explosive device. 

Police later confirmed the vest he was wearing was ‘not viable’. 

Khurram Rafiq, who was driving past the synagogue, said Al-Shamie went from victim to victim in a ‘robotic’ manner like he ‘had a job to do’.

Mr Rafiq, 35, a manager for a global tech firm, told the Daily Mail: ‘Initially I thought it was an accident and that the driver had lost control for whatever reason. 

‘But he then got out and stabbed the man who was lying on the ground. The knifeman walked through the front gates and stabbed at least two other men. I would describe him as an Asian man and he was going for anyone who was Jewish.

‘The men he stabbed were all wearing the kippah. There was no shouting from what I could hear nor any religious slogans.’