On October 4, 2025, the world witnessed a surge of pro-Palestinian demonstrations from London to Barcelona, as thousands took to the streets to protest government actions, express solidarity with the people of Gaza, and demand political change. These rallies unfolded in the shadow of a tragic terror attack on a Manchester synagogue just two days earlier, raising urgent questions about the balance between free expression, public safety, and respect for grieving communities.
In central London’s Trafalgar Square, the group Defend Our Juries pressed ahead with a major protest despite calls from both the UK government and the Metropolitan Police to reconsider. Organizers expected more than 1,500 attendees, rallying against the government’s recent ban on the activist group Palestine Action. The demonstration’s timing was fraught: on October 2, Jihad al-Shamie rammed a car into a Manchester synagogue during Yom Kippur—Judaism’s holiest day—before stabbing worshippers. Two people, Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, were killed, and four others were injured, three seriously. Police fatally shot the attacker at the scene.
In the wake of this violence, political leaders and community figures voiced deep concern about the impact of further protests. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, writing in both Jewish News and Jewish Chronicle, urged those considering protest to “recognise and respect the grief of British Jews this week.” He warned, “It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain.” Starmer acknowledged that “peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy” and cited justified concern for the suffering in Gaza, but cautioned that “a minority have used these protests as a pretext for stoking antisemitic tropes.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood echoed this sentiment, calling for demonstrators to “step back” and allow time for mourning. She emphasized that while the right to protest is protected, authorities could override it on police advice if public safety was at risk. “If [the police] were to tell me there was an inability to respond and to police the protests, then there are powers that are available,” Mahmood stated, highlighting the delicate line between civil liberties and security.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, whose force was tasked with maintaining order and protecting Jewish sites, requested the protest be postponed. He warned that the demonstration could “likely create further tensions and some might say lacks sensitivity.” Rowley also questioned whether the event’s timing risked sending a message that could be interpreted as endorsing antisemitism, deepening community divides. The Met, he said, would deploy 1,500 officers to monitor the protest and arrest anyone overtly supporting the proscribed group Palestine Action, as mandated under anti-terrorism legislation passed in July.
Despite these appeals, Defend Our Juries rejected calls for cancellation. A spokesperson argued, “Cancelling peaceful protests lets terror win.” The group insisted that “it’s more important than ever to defend our democracy, including our fundamental rights to peaceful protest and freedom of speech, and to take a stand tomorrow against killing and against oppression, and for peace and justice for all.” Sir Jonathon Porritt, a member of the group, told the BBC, “I have no doubt that everyone taking part in the silent vigil today will demonstrate huge respect and real grief for those affected by the absolute atrocity at Heaton Park.” He added, “I do not think that means that we should be asked to give up on our right to stand up for those who are being devastated by an ongoing, real-time genocide in Gaza.”
Concerns about antisemitism and public safety were echoed by the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity dedicated to protecting the UK’s Jewish community. Dave Rich, CST’s director of policy, told BBC Radio 4, “For so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians. The two are not the same.” He described the timing as “remarkably self absorbed and insensitive to say the least.”
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis also weighed in, questioning why marches in support of Palestine Action were permitted. “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,” he told the BBC. He drew a direct link between inflammatory rhetoric and the Manchester attack, saying, “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.”
Not all voices in the political sphere called for a ban. Green Party leader Zack Polanski told the BBC, “Non-violent protest has a really important part to play in our democracy. I think it’s important in democracy we find space and we find nuance that people can both grieve and people can protest for the people that they are grieving and all of these things can be true at the same time.”
Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian rallies were not limited to the UK. In Barcelona, an estimated 70,000 people (with organizers claiming 300,000) marched in a massive show of support for Palestine. The demonstration, backed by more than 650 groups—including trade unions, feminist organizations, and neighborhood associations—called for governments, institutions, and companies to sever all ties with Israel. Chants of “Free, free Palestine,” “Boycott Israel,” and “From the river to the sea, Catalonia will be free” echoed through the city’s streets. Protesters spray-painted slogans on storefronts and the stock exchange, while luxury brands like Gucci and Chanel closed their doors in anticipation of unrest.
Speakers at the Barcelona rally denounced Israeli “colonialism, genocide, apartheid and occupation” and demanded that the European Union and Spanish government take concrete action, including an arms embargo against Israel. Natalia Abu Sharar, head of the Palestinian Community of Catalonia, lambasted Donald Trump’s peace plan as “just another cover-up to continue the genocide.” She urged people to “keep taking to the streets” to prevent the normalization of “colonization, apartheid, and the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”
The convergence of these demonstrations across Europe highlights a growing sense of urgency and polarization around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the UK, the debate centers on how to safeguard both the right to protest and the security of communities targeted by hate. In Spain, the focus is on international solidarity and pressure for political accountability. What unites both is a demand for justice and a refusal to remain silent in the face of suffering—though how best to express that outrage, and when, remains a matter of fierce contention.
As the dust settles on a weekend of protest and grief, political leaders, activists, and ordinary citizens alike are left to grapple with the aftermath—searching for ways to honor the dead, protect the vulnerable, and uphold the values of democracy in a time of profound division.
