He says the attack on a Manchester synagogue should not be used to silence protest against the Gaza genocide
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has called politicians’ weaponisation of a deadly antisemitic attack on a synagogue in Manchester yesterday “deeply irresponsible”.
Polanski, who is Jewish and from Salford, issued a statement following the attack in which two Jewish men were killed.
He said: “This horrific attack feels deeply personal for me as I grew up in the Jewish community in Manchester. My heart goes out to all those impacted by this dreadful act of terror.
“It is a sad reflection of the growing antisemitism we’ve witnessed for several years, as well as rising hate crime. It emphasises the importance of interfaith work; of bringing people together in our communities.”
However, he said protests against the genocide in Gaza should not be weaponised in response to the attack on Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism.
This comes after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was “disappointed” that pro-Palestinian protests went ahead after the attack.
Mahmood said the protests were “fundamentally un-British” and called on protests at the weekend to be cancelled to give the Jewish community “a day or two” to grieve.
Polanski accused Mahmood of being “deeply irresponsible”. He told Sky News this morning: “I think ultimately conflating protests against a genocide in Gaza and ultimately weaponising that against an antisemitic attack on our streets, a terrorist attack is deeply irresponsible.”
The Green Party leader said that “Democratic, non-violent protest is a cornerstone of our democracy”. He added: “I think it’s worrying when government are increasingly trying to crush down dissent and again using what is a brutal attack that all of us in the Jewish community are feeling very deeply to try and point at a protest and say people don’t also have a right to speak out against a genocide.”
In another interview on Good Morning Britain, he urged sensitivity to the Jewish community but defended the right to protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
He said: “We need to be clear what this government is doing. They are selling arms to Israel, they’re sharing intelligence for an ongoing genocide, so I’m less concerned about the policing of language and civility, and I’m more concerned about the actual bombs that are landing on people.”
Polanski added: “Speaking as a member of the Jewish community I wouldn’t want anyone to feel like the had to be silent about a genocide that is happening because of an outrageous, atrocious attack that happened on our soil too.
“These are separate things and we should condemn them all.”
Similarly, MP Zarah Sultana wrote on X: “You can protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza and unequivocally condemn the antisemitic terror attack in Manchester.
“Don’t let politicians or the media tell you that you can’t do both.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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