ORGANISERS of pro-Palestine protests maintained today that attempts to connect a series of antisemitic attacks with their events are false.

The Stop The War Coalition said it had held a number of marches and meetings in recent months which had passed peacefully.

Lindsey German, convener of the Stop The War Coalition, said: “Our marches are in solidarity with the people of Gaza who have suffered genocidal attacks by the Israeli government.

“They are very diverse and peaceful and always contain many Jews as participants and speakers, including Holocaust survivors.

“The suggestion by Mark Rowley that we target synagogues is entirely false,” she said, following claims by the Metropolitan Police chief that the marches had chosen to march past these. “We condemn the terrible attacks in Golders Green as we do all antisemitism.

“There is however absolutely no connection between those and our movement.”

Her comments come as police have charged Essa Suleiman, 45, with attempted murder after the stabbing of two Jewish men, Shloime Rand, 34, and Norman Shine, 76, on Wednesday in Golders Green, north London.

He was also charged with attempted murder of Ishmail Hussein, whom the defendant had known for 20 years, in a knife attack in Southwark earlier the same day.

Mr Suleiman appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today and was remanded in custody.

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley criticised Green Party leader Zack Polanski for retweeting an X post accusing officers of “repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head” when he was already incapacitated from being tasered.

Sir Mark denied that he was “intervening in politics,” adding the post was “inaccurate and misinformed.”

Mr Polanski later apologised for sharing the tweet “in haste” and invited Sir Mark to meet him to discuss the police response.

Police are also mooting whether they can ban planned demonstrations, as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer threatened new repressive measures.

Today, Sir Keir vowed to crack down on those he claimed were “venerating the murder of Jews” at protest marches as the terror threat level was raised to “severe.”

Sir Mark said that he was “concerned” about the scale of upcoming protests, and that his force was “looking hard at what conditions and powers we should use.”

The Stop The War Coalition said it would continue to peacefully protest and with fellow Palestine Coalition organisers will go ahead with the major London demonstration on May 16 to mark Nakba Day.

A spokesperson for Palestine Solidarity Campaign told the Star: “The right to protest is a fundamental freedom

“In the wake of the horrific antisemitic attack in Golders Green, politicians and the media have rushed to falsely characterise the marches for Palestine and to call for them to be suppressed. These calls dangerously conflate Jewish people with the state of Israel and peaceful political protest with unconnected violent acts. We utterly reject both.

“On Saturday 16 May we will march in London for the annual commemoration of the Nakba – the catastrophe inflicted on the Palestinians by Israel since 1948. We will march in opposition to the British government’s complicity in Israel’s well-documented ethnic cleansing, apartheid and genocide.

“This year, we will also march against Tommy Robinson and his far-right supporters mobilising on the same day. The organisers of the demonstration are fascists, racists and islamophobes who have espoused the antisemitic great replacement theory.

“As always, our march will involve thousands of Jewish people - many of them proudly displaying their Jewish identity – as part of the Jewish Bloc, as organisers and platform speakers. By bringing together people from all backgrounds and walks of life, we will reaffirm opposition to all forms of racism including anti-Palestinian racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia.

“The right to protest is a fundamental democratic freedom that must be protected. We call on all those who believe in the universal principles of freedom, justice and equality to join us at 12 noon on Exhibition Road on Saturday 16 May.”