Pro-Palestine college students launch anti-Semitic chants on October 7 anniversary as Starmer condemns ‘un-British’ protests – and memorial vandal is unmasked

Pro-Palestine students chanted ‘from the river to the sea’ during protests on the second anniversary of Hamas‘ October 7 attacks on Israel. 

Around 100 people demonstrated outside Sheffield University’s students’ union where they chanted: ‘From river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’

The song, which has been adopted by Hamas and is used in the terror group’s official charter, is deemed anti-Semitic and a direct call for the state of Israel to be destroyed.

The Palestinian flag-waving students also accused Israel of a ‘holocaust’ and shouted: ‘Your uni is covered in Palestinian blood’.

It comes as a woman in London who sparked outrage after being filmed cutting down yellow ribbons for Israeli hostages from a fence can today be identified. 

Nadia Yahlom, who lives in north London, used scissors to brazenly snip the memorial bands that the Jewish community had tied to railings in honour of the 251 people taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.  

Ms Yahlom declared the ribbons – which were put up on the eve of the second anniversary of the attacks – were ‘condoning genocide’. 

The yellow ribbon is the symbol of the ‘Bring Them Home’ campaign for those who have been held captive by Hamas terrorists and kept against their will in Gaza. 

Ms Yahlom, whose identity was until now unknown, is a pro-Palestine artist whose work focuses on ‘hauntedness and supernatural life’ in the war-torn state. 

She studied at Cambridge University and Goldsmiths before embarking on an Arts PhD at the University of Westminster. Her husband is a Palestinian actor.

Police are now investigating whether her actions constituted an act of criminal damage or a hate crime.  

The news comes as hundred students across the country defied warnings from Keir Starmer to stay away from ‘un-British’ protests on the second anniversary of the attacks which claimed the lives of 1,200 people. 

One organiser of Sheffield’s took aim at the PM after Sir Keir branded activists ‘un-British’, defiantly saying: ‘To be honest, I don’t care what a war criminal says… Keir Starmer is a war criminal, so his opinion means very little to me.’

Of the more than a dozen protests meant to be held at universities – including Glasgow, Edinburgh and London – to mark the anniversary, themes include events to ‘honour our martyrs’ and celebrate ‘two years of resistance’. 

Others have advertised their marches with the phrase ‘long live the intifada’ –  an anti-Semitic term used as a rallying cry to violently overthrow the Jewish state.

However, as outrage grew over the movement, some events have been axed. 

In Liverpool a ‘Palestine bake sale’ was forced to cancel last minute over furious backlash to the event.

One woman, who did not want to be named for fear of her safety, said: ‘I know that Jewish students at the university are very distressed by this.

‘It has made them feel unwelcome and unsafe. The event was posted on their Instagram on Friday – the day after Manchester’s attack.’

Another protest at Strathclyde University in Glasgow had also been planned, where students were urged to ‘grab your flag and keffiyeh’ and attend a ‘Protest 4 Palestine‘. However, this event has also been postponed amid mounting fury over the rally.  

Writing in The Times, Sir Keir said: ‘Today, on the anniversary of the atrocities of October 7, students are once again planning protests. 

‘This is not who we are as a country. It’s un-British to have so little respect for others. And that’s before some of them decide to start chanting hatred towards Jewish people all over again.’

He added the pro-Palestine protests have been used by some as a ‘despicable excuse to attack British Jews’.

However, one of the organisers of a protest in Sheffield, Anton Parocki, of the Revolutionary Communist Party, rejected the PM’s claim that holding pro-Palestinian rallies on October 7 was ‘un-British’.

Mr Parocki defiantly said: ‘I think it’s quite funny. What does that mean?

‘Are all these people here anti-British? Are all the millions of people that come out for Palestinian protests anti-British?

‘Is it anti-British to go against a genocide? That seems like what he’s saying, which is quite funny.’

He added: ‘But, to be honest, I don’t care what a war criminal says.

‘Keir Starmer is a war criminal, so his opinion means very little to me.

‘He says it’s insensitive. You know what I think is insensitive? Is that there’s been two years of genocide.

‘That’s way worse, with the British Government supporting it.’

In London, dozens of students have rallied as part of a major city-wide Inter-University March

Demonstrators gathered outside King’s College University in The Strand for the protest.

Crowds, many of whom were wearing masks or face coverings, were reportedly heard shouting ‘From the river to the sea’ and ‘long live the intifada’.

A student in keffiyah kick-started the event, chanting: ‘KCL, shut it down, UK government, shut it down.’

A banner was also unfurled at KCL in an effort to block people from entering the university building. 

Starting at King’s College, the march is set to weave its way through London, picking up protesters at London School of Economics, University College London, and School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)

The protest is being led by former law student Haya Adam, who was expelled from SOAS in Holborn, London, in August.

She and her activist mother, Azza Ahmed Zaki, have both involved in the university’s anti-Israel encampment which has been running for more than a year.

The second-year law and international relations student was allegedly expelled for harassment, abusive behaviour and operational obstruction.

Her family are political refugees originally from Egypt and, according to Companies House records, they now live in an apartment in Paddington, West London, a stone’s throw from Kensington Palace.

In a video posted on Instagram following her expulsion, Adam alleged that SOAS had set a ‘dangerous precedent’.

‘For the first time in a UK university they have expelled a student in the midst of their studies for standing up against a live-streamed genocide,’ she claimed.

Adam added that she had chosen to attend SOAS because she believed ‘this was a decolonial institution… I believed that I would get an anti-colonial education whilst having a space where I could speak up against injustice’.

Branding the university ‘a tool of empire and imperialism’ she insisted she would ‘continue to fight for our Palestinian brothers and sisters by any means necessary’.

Elsewhere in the capital, locals have condemned a ‘vile’ and ‘disgusting’ march by pro-Palestine supporters.  

Hundreds carrying Palestine flags and many in face coverings also attended the demo at the Queen Mary University in east London.

The rally, called ‘Two Years of Genocide, Two Years of Resistance’, also saw students chanting ‘free free Palestine’ and ‘Israel is a terror state’.

Provocative signs were also held by some activists, with one reading ‘Zionism off campus’ and another ‘QMUL to Gaza, Globalise the Intifada’.

Other chants include: ‘Occupation occupation no more.’

They are being made through a loudspeaker and there is also one student playing the drums.

One student condemned the march, telling the Daily Mail: ‘I really don’t agree with it. It’s terrible.

‘Everyone has a right to protest, but today? It doesn’t feel right to me.’

One local said: ‘It’s vile. It’s disgusting. I can hear the chanting. Can’t they have some respect?

‘It’s no wonder the Jewish community are terrified. The university is a disgrace for allowing this to happen.’

A huge ring of steel of security has been placed around the university, which some students have described as ‘completely unprecedented’.

Around 200 people have attended.

Many Palestine flags are being waved.

However, a number of rallies were due to happen nationwide but some have been axed last minute due to widespread outrage at their timing. 

A march failed to take place at University of Bristol – as no protesters gathered outside the building grounds.

Bristol Socialist Worker Student Group planned to hold a rally titled ‘end the genocide’ at the Wills Memorial – outside the largest library on campus.

The event has since been deleted from their Instagram account.

Set to take place at 12pm, three police officers were standing next to the university grounds awaiting for the protest to take place.

However, after one hour waiting, press and police started walking off as the protesters failed to appear.

Curious passers-by would ask journalists what was set to happen, but no Palestinian flags were flagged outside the university grounds.

It comes after Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson warned students to ‘pause’ their protests and ‘show some humanity’. 

‘There is, of course, within our country the fundamental right to protest. It’s a cornerstone of our democracy,’ she told Sky News.

‘But my message is that, as we remember the awful atrocities that took place two years ago on October 7, I would just encourage those considering taking part in protests to pause, to reflect and to understand the deep sense of loss that many people in our country will be experiencing today, not least given the appalling attacks we saw at Manchester last week.

‘So my message is that whilst you might have the right to protest, I would urge people to show some humanity, to show some respect and to understand the deep sense of grief and loss that many Jewish people in our country will be experiencing today.’

Students in London are set to come together for a large march in the capital today.  

It also comes less than a week after two men were killed in a terror attack at a synagogue in Manchester. 

Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, killed Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, in the attack which unfolded on Yom Kippur, the most holy day in the Jewish calendar.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has pledged to put ‘every available resource into making sure that we understand precisely what has happened’.

Sir Keir said: ‘Today we mark two years since the horrifying attacks on Israel by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.

‘Time does not diminish the evil we saw that day. The worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The brutal, cold-blooded torture and murder of Jews in their own homes. And the taking of hostages, including British citizens, some of whom remain in Gaza today.

‘Since that awful day, so many have endured a living nightmare. When I spoke with some of the families of the British hostages, I promised them in person that we will not cease in our efforts to bring their loved ones home.

‘But back here in the UK, our Jewish communities have also endured rising antisemitism on our streets, in our country. And last week, a horrifying terrorist attack on the holy day of Yom Kippur in Manchester.

‘This is a stain on who we are, and this country will always stand tall and united against those who wish harm and hatred upon Jewish communities. 

‘Our priority in the Middle East remains the same – release the hostages. Surge aid into Gaza. And a ceasefire that can lead to a lasting and just peace as a step towards a two-state solution. A safe and secure Israel, alongside a viable Palestinian state.

‘We welcome the US initiative towards peace in the Middle East, and this Government will do everything in our power to bring about the day where every child of Israel can live peacefully, alongside their Palestinian neighbours, in safety and security.’

The Prime Minister has been criticised for his decision to recognise a Palestinian state, with some Jewish leaders and Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage accusing Starmer of ’emboldening protesters’ with his actions.

Thousands of people attended an event in Trafalgar Square in central London on Sunday to mark the two-year anniversary.

Pro-Palestine protests also took place in the same location, with almost 500 people arrested for allegedly expressing support for the banned terror group, Palestine Action, over the weekend.

And on Thursday, hundreds of other activists held protests in London and Manchester – just hours after the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue terror attack rocked the nation’s Jewish community.

Britain’s Jewish leaders, as well as university chiefs and senior politicians, have now voiced their repulsion at the timing of tomorrow’s planned demonstrations.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it was ‘disgusted by reports of recent hate-filled protests on university campuses’.

‘In the wake of the terror attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation it is clear we need fundamental change of mindset to drive out anti-Jewish incitement at all levels of our society, including from our universities,’ a spokesman added.

Keith Black, chairman of Jewish Leadership Council, was also sickened by the scheduled events on the anniversary of Hamas’s massacre in Israel.

‘Protesting on campuses on October 7 is a disgraceful and deeply upsetting strategy to cause maximum pain to Jewish students,’ Mr Black said.

‘The content of these demonstrations is likely to be anti-Semitic and incite violence. For those involved to claim any kind of moral authority is a lie, these protests are driven by hate.’

At Queen Mary University in London, organisers are planning a rally dubbed: ‘Two Years of Genocide, Two Years of Resistance’.

Students at Goldsmiths, University of London, are also gearing up for an event, advertised as a ‘night of remembrance and resistance’.

At nearby King’s College in London, students have been invited to a talk entitled: ‘Why It Didn’t Start On October 7th’.

‘Wear your keffiyeh, bring your voice, and join us as we demand divestment from Israel and justice for Palestine,’ one post advertising the rally on Facebook said.

It later adds ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ – a chant critics have branded anti-Semitic, because it implies the destruction of the state of Israel.

In Birmingham, protesters will stage a vigil for Palestine to ‘honour our martyrs’, with posts for the event saying: ‘Two years of genocide, 100-years of resistance’.

Meanwhile, at the University of Sheffield, the Revolutionary Communist Party refused pleas to move the date of its march, citing the cost of having to reprint posters.

At the University of Leicester, activists will be rallying inside the institution’s David Wilson Library. In Nottingham, a protest is due to take place at 5pm in Old Market Square to mark ‘two years of resistance’ and ‘honour our martyrs’.

Students at the University of Leeds are also set to hold a protest after declaring ‘long live the intifada’ – a call to violently overthrow the Jewish state. 

Other events are also planned at universities in Bristol, Sussex and Edinburgh. 

Isaac Zarfati, executive director of StandWithUs UK, said Jewish students have been subjected to ‘vile’ levels of ‘Jew hate, intimidation, ostracisation, and even violent assault’ over the past two years.

Mr Zarfati warned a recent report conducted by StandWithUS UK, showed Jewish students in Britain now faced ‘terrifying levels of racism… day in, day out and it shows no sign of abating even following the terrible events in Manchester’.

‘The deliberate scheduling of ‘resistance’ events on the anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 terror atrocities is particularly grotesque,’ he added.

He called on the Prime Minister and education secretary to ‘get a grip of rampant anti-Semitism and extremism’ now seemingly raging across university campuses.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the pro-Palestine demonstrations showed ‘the same hatred that fuelled (the October 7 attacks) still festers today’.

‘Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, has faced hatred, war and terror since the day it was founded. And yet, it has stood strong. A beacon of democracy and resilience in the Middle East,’ she said.

‘But two years on from the horrific massacre on October 7, we must also be honest: the same hatred that fuelled those barbaric attacks still festers today.

‘We see it in the so-called ‘protests’ that turn into hate marches on our streets. We hear it in chants calling to ‘globalise the intifada’. And we saw it again, tragically, in the appalling terrorist attack on our Jewish community right here in Manchester just last week.’

She added: ‘It is shameful that in recognising Palestine as a state, the Government has rewarded the terrorists that perpetrated the 7th October atrocities.

‘Appeasement does not work. There are still 48 hostages held captive in Gaza. They must come home now.’

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said students considering joining pro-Palestinian protests on the anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel should ‘pause’ and ‘show some humanity’.

Ms Phillipson told Sky News: ‘There is, of course, within our country the fundamental right to protest. It’s a cornerstone of our democracy.

‘But my message is that, as we remember the awful atrocities that took place two years ago on October 7, I would just encourage those considering taking part in protests to pause, to reflect and to understand the deep sense of loss that many people in our country will be experiencing today, not least given the appalling attacks we saw at Manchester last week.

‘So my message is that whilst you might have the right to protest, I would urge people to show some humanity, to show some respect and to understand the deep sense of grief and loss that many Jewish people in our country will be experiencing today.’

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick branded plans for protests in towns and cities, on the anniversary of the attacks ‘a f****** disgrace’.

He told a fringe event at the Tory party conference: ‘I heard today that there are protests being scheduled in universities for October the 7th – that’s a f****** disgrace.

‘I would say first and foremost to people, our fellow citizens who are thinking of doing that, show some common decency.’

If organisers refuse to call off such protests then a change in the law to consider the ‘cumulative impact’ should be considered, he said, noting Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has already taken steps towards this.

Ms Mahmood said repeated large-scale protests had caused ‘considerable fear’ for the Jewish community, as she pledged to give police greater powers to restrict protests.

Queen Mary University of London – where one of the marches is being planned – insisted it had ‘robust’ measures to deal with the situation. 

A spokesman added: ‘We do not tolerate antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, abuse, incitement or harassment of any kind, and have robust procedures in place to deal with any such complaints, including reporting to the police. As a university, we must work within the law and have a duty to uphold lawful freedom of speech.

‘Since the beginning of the current crisis in the Middle East, we have consistently urged respect for each other’s different beliefs and points of view, and to support each other with compassion and empathy. The majority of our community of 38,000 student and staff continue to do just that.’

The Government will amend Sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 to explicitly allow the police to take account of the cumulative impact of frequent protests on local areas in order to impose conditions on public processions and assemblies.

The Home Secretary will also review existing legislation to ensure powers are sufficient and are being applied consistently by police forces – this will include powers to ban protests outright.