Several student demonstrations took place across Glasgow and in Edinburgh on the anniversary of the attacks, which left nearly 1,200 people dead.
16:56, 07 Oct 2025Updated 17:02, 07 Oct 2025
Palestine protests take place in Edinburgh and Glasgow on October 7, 2025
Pro-Palestine activists have been blasted for protesting on the streets of Scotland on the second anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Hundreds turned out for student demonstrations across Glasgow and in Edinburgh on Tuesday afternoon in defiance of Sir Keir Starmer who urged students to think carefully about their actions.
The Prime Minister said it was “un-British to have little respect for others” and warned of “rising antisemitism on our streets”.
It marked two years to the day since nearly 1,200 people were killed during Hamas’s incursion into Israel.
Police attended the protest at Edinburgh University’s main library(Image: Reach plc )
Students and staff gathered outside Edinburgh University’s main library on George Square, carrying flags and placards bearing pro-Palestinian slogans.
Members of the crowd chanted “shame” and cheered during intervals as speakers called for an end to the conflict. Protesters also called for the university to divest of investments in companies they said are producing weapons being used in the war.
Despite the PM’s comments, Edinburgh University staff member Sara Al Disi, 32, said: “I think we should protest today, especially because they’re trying to make it so that (we can’t protest) on that day – and to say that actually they’re hypocrites.”
In a letter to students, University of Edinburgh principal and vice-chancellor Professor Sir Peter Mathieson said: “I appeal to members of our community, irrespective of their race, religion, nationality or beliefs, to think carefully about their actions, their motivations and the effect that they might have on other members of our community.”
Another protest staged by Strathclyde University’s Palestine Solidarity Society took place at Rottenrow Gardens near Glasgow’s city centre.
Strathclyde University pro-Palestine protest (Image: Daily Record)
Around 80 protesters turned up in the city centre. Attendees were spotted bearing signs reading “block everything” and “stop the genocide”. Attendees in the crowd were heard chanting “Killing children is a crime, free Palestine.”
A spokesperson for the University of Strathclyde said that while the university remains committed to upholding free speech, it asked the organiser to delay the demonstration.
“We believe that holding an event of this nature on this date is insensitive and we have asked that they delay to show their civic responsibility and common decency,” the spokesperson said.
Protesters turn out in Edinburgh in defiance of Starmer (Image: Reach plc )
Strathclyde University student Amina Khan, 19, said: “We understand the government has asked not to protest today but you can’t put a pause on a genocide.
“We condemn the horrific tragedies of October 7 two years ago but we also condemn the oppression which has been going on since and vowed the last 80 years.
“I think it’s a sheepish attempt to push away from the real issue is that he is funding a genocide.”
One shocking event by members from Glasgow University Justice for Palestine Society encouraged the celebration of Al Asqa Flood, which was led by terror group Hamas.
The social media post also invited people to celebrate their martyrs at the university’s iconic Cloisters.
The events come less than a week after knife-wielding terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, killed two men at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.
Sammy Stein(Image: Glasgow Jewish Representative Council)
Sammy Stein, chairman of Glasgow Friends of Israel, told the Record: “Having celebrations and demonstrations today is absolutely despicable and disgraceful.
“This reminds me of the celebrations that took place two years ago as Hamas terrorists were continuing with their slaughter and butchering Israeli and other nationalities culminating in the horror of more Jewish people being killed in one day since the Holocaust.
“I wonder how people, especially students, can celebrate the killing of 1,200 innocent people including men, women, children, babies and the elderly – some of whom were Holocaust survivors.
“How can they celebrate the killing of children in front of their parents and parents in front of their children?
“I find their actions to be incredibly insensitive, immature and grotesque.”
Several other demonstrations took place at the University of Leeds, King’s College London and the London School of Economics.
Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK, urged students and staff participating in protests to remember that October 7 is “the anniversary of an atrocious attack on innocent people, and that expressing support for a terrorist organisation is a criminal offence”.
Ms Stern added that Universities UK has signposted resources to help universities combat antisemitism.
Writing in the Times, Sir Keir had said the timing of the protests was “un-British” and showed “little respect for others”.
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.”
He added: “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.”
The October 7 attacks were a series of coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, carried out by terrorist group Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups on October 7, 2023.
The violence took place during the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.
It began with a barrage of at least 4,300 rockets launched into Israel.
Hamas militants breached the Gaza–Israel barrier, attacking military bases and massacring civilians in 21 communities, including Be’eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, Netiv Haasara, and Alumim.
In total, 1,195 people were killed by the attacks including 736 Israeli civilians, of which 38 were children, 79 foreign nationals, and 379 members of the security forces.
Last month, Sir Starmer confirmed that the UK would formally recognise Palestine as a state in a major shift in policy.
In a statement at the time, the Prime Minister said: “In the face of the growing horror in the Middle East we are acting to keep alive the possibility of peace and a two-state solution.”