Thousands rally outside Downing Street to demand action after synagogue murders

Thousands gathered outside Downing Street on Thursday night for a Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) demonstration marking a week since the terror attack on Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester, in which two British Jews were murdered on Yom Kippur.

The Metropolitan Police said the event, which drew about 2,000 people waving Israeli and Union flags and holding their phone lights aloft, took place largely without incident before dispersing. Two pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested after refusing to leave the area, in breach of public-order conditions imposed on Whitehall to prevent rival gatherings at the same time.

The rally opened with a minute’s silence for Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, who were killed by the terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie, and included prayers for those still in hospital. Speakers also remembered the hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Addressing the crowd, Julia Hartley-Brewer said Britain was facing “a battle at home” against rising antisemitism. “Even if a full ceasefire is declared, the hostages return and the war in Gaza ends, the battles on our own streets will just carry on,” she said. “This isn’t about Gaza. They’re not pro-Palestine, they’re anti-Jew.”

She accused politicians of complacency following the Manchester killings. “How can we believe a man who rewards the 7 October terrorists with recognition of a Palestinian state without even asking Hamas to release their hostages first? When British Jews no longer feel safe on our streets, it’s because they are no longer safe on our streets – and that, Prime Minister, is on you.”

CAA chief executive Gideon Falter said the Jewish community was “angry” after years of warnings were ignored. “This country pleaded with the mobs to postpone their protests – and they said no,” he told supporters. “They revelled. There was a celebratory atmosphere up and down the country. So tonight, we turn our eyes to Downing Street and say: action, not words.”

A friend of Melvin Cravitz, who addressed the rally, spoke movingly about the need for action. “I’m proud to be British. My father served in the British Army – he was conscripted in 1939 and spent three years as a prisoner of war,” he said. “We have to do something about it. We can’t stand back anymore.”

Camilla Tominey, associate editor of The Telegraph, said antisemitism had become “a painful reality of everyday life,” while Stephen Silverman, CAA’s investigations director, accused regulators, universities and public bodies of “failing to act when they could have acted,” calling their inaction “an ignominious stain on this great country of ours”.

The rally concluded with chants of “Actions, not words” and “Shame on you” as the crowd turned towards No 10, demanding tougher measures to combat antisemitism in public life.

Police said additional conditions had also been placed around Great Portland Street and Portland Place due to the proximity of a nearby synagogue.