JEWISH campaigners have condemned Sir Keir Starmer’s “insulting” claim that demonstrations against genocide were “un-British.”

The Prime Minister’s remarks, made today, came ahead of several student protests on the anniversary of October 7, and the national march for Palestine this weekend.

An inter-university march set off in the capital from King’s College at 2pm, before passing the London School of Economics, University College London and ending at the gates of SOAS.

Joining them was Mark Etkind, the son of a Holocaust survivor, who said: “As we speak today, weapons made in Britain are contributing to the deaths of children and others in Gaza — that has to stop now in order to save those lives, so these brave student protesters have to keep demonstrating until that genocide stops.”

He accused the government of having slandered the students, making them out to be insensitive to October 7, “while ignoring the obvious fact that their priority is to … oppose the ongoing conflict which Britain unfortunately is complicit in.”

Rallies also took place in Sheffield, Glasgow and Edinburgh, where the institution’s principal emailed students warning them to “think carefully about their actions” ahead of the protest.

Edinburgh’s Justice for Palestine Society called it a “blatant attempt to suppress campus discourse on an ongoing genocide.”

Writing in the Times, Sir Keir said it was “un-British to have so little respect for others,” echoing comments made by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who described Palestine protests held following Thursday’s attack on a Manchester synagogue as “fundamentally un-British.”

Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, media officer for Jewish Voice for Liberation, said: “Those who protest are in despair at our government’s abject failure to take any kind of meaningful action to make the bombing, shooting, burning and starvation stop.

“For leaders of that government to accuse protesters of ‘un-Britishness’ is both insulting and counterproductive.

“They are guilty of perpetuating the myth that protesting for an end to the genocide is anti-semitic and poses a threat to Jews, thus representing Jews collectively as supporters of Israel’s actions and heedless of Palestinian suffering.

“It is this false narrative that is anti-semitic, and is contributing to a rise in hostility towards Jewish people.”

A Stop the War spokesperson said: “A genocide enabler doesn’t get to tell us what is un-British.

“This is just more of Keir Starmer and his Home Secretary Shahbana Mahmood’s attempts to weaponise situations to ramp up attacks on the Palestine movement and the right to protest.”

On Thursday, two people were killed in an attack on Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue.

Following the tragedy, the Home Secretary announced plans to give police greater powers to restrict protests, citing large and repeated demonstrations as causing “considerable fear” within the Jewish community.

Amendments are set to be made to sections 12 and 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 so that police can consider the “cumulative impact” of protests.

Under the changes, police could instruct organisers to hold protests elsewhere if a site has seen repeated demonstrations.

Existing legislation, including powers to ban demonstrations outright, will also be reviewed.

Ben Jamal, director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which is helping to co-ordinate the 32nd national march for Palestine this Saturday, said: “The government refuses to acknowledge Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, even though its own party conference did so last week, and ignores its legal duty to prevent genocide.

“Instead, it focuses its efforts on further restricting the rights of millions of people to protest against UK complicity.

“We will keep Israel’s genocide and the freedom and equality of Palestinians at the centre of our campaigns, despite their efforts.”

Attacks by Hamas left 1,139 people dead and 240 taken hostage on October 7 2023.

Since then, Israel’s genocidal onslaught has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, including 20,000 children.