At least 492 people have been arrested at a pro-Palestine protest in central London after organisers refused to cancel the demonstration following the synagogue terror attack earlier this week.

The Prime Minister had urged groups behind the demonstrations in Manchester and London along with attendees to ‘respect the grief of British Jews’ as he said the events could cause further pain to mourners.

However, a protest in central London campaigning against the proscription of Palestine Action went ahead, after organisers from group Defend Our Juries had a public spat with the Metropolitan Police and refused to call it off.

By 3.45pm on Saturday, Met Police officers had arrested 175 people for expressing support for the proscribed group, mostly for holding signs that read: ‘I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action’.

A Daily Mail analysis shows that the Met Police has so far arrested at least 1,984 people in London for allegedly supporting Palestine Action since it was proscribed on July 5.

Meanwhile, a march held by Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine, which has taken place regularly over the last two years, also went ahead in the face of counter-protesters who held Union flags.

And vast swathes of people turned out at pro-Palestinian rallies across Europe on, calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the release of activists on board a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the territory.

The Manchester marches were referenced by members of the public who heckled Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy when he spoke at a vigil near the attack on Friday.

Police remove a protester after a banner was unfurled on Westminster Bridge as part of a demonstration organised by Defend our Juries, in support of Palestine Action, in London on Saturday

People take part in a demonstration organised by GM Friends of Palestine at Manchester Cathedral on Saturday

Around 50 pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered at a rally in Manchester on Saturday

It comes after a protest in support of members of a flotilla attempting to reach Gaza, including Swedish activist Greta Th

unberg, held in Whitehall, central London just hours after the fatal attack on Thursday evening descended into chaos.

Early on Saturday afternoon, a group of people attending the Defend Our Juries protest unfurled a banner on Westminster Bridge which read: ‘We oppose genocide. We support Palestine Action.’

Six people were arrested after unfurling the banner for expressing support for a proscribed organisation, the Met said.

Officers from the Met Police then began making arrests amongst protesters who were declaring their support for Palestine Action.

An estimate from organisers Defend Our Juries suggested around 700 people gathered in Trafalgar Square, half the number they had predicted. A statement on the group’s social media pages later said 1,000 had gathered.

At 1pm, many unveiled signs which said they supported Palestine Action.

Dave Rich, director of policy at the Community Security Trust charity which provides protection for the Jewish community, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I think it’s phenomenally tone deaf, to say the least, for so many people who claim to care about human rights and care about freedoms, to be taking police resources away from protecting the rights and freedoms of Jewish people to live their lives and go to synagogue in safety, all to support a proscribed terrorist organisation, which is not the same thing as supporting the Palestinians.

‘And I think it’s remarkably self-absorbed and insensitive, to say the least.’

But Kerry Moscogiuri, director of campaigns at human rights group Amnesty International UK, said: ‘Arresting hundreds of people for peacefully sitting down and holding these signs is not the job of police.

‘These arrests are in breach of the UK’s international human rights obligations and should not be happening.’

A protester is escorted by police at a ‘Lift the ban’ protest by pro-Palestine group ‘Defend our Juries’ Pro-Palestine march in London on October 4

People stage a protest to demand the British government to lift its ban on Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square on Saturday

Protesters hold signs declaring their support for Palestine Action during a protest in Trafalgar Square, central London today

A protester is taken away by police officers after being arrested in central London

Protesters unfurl a banner on Westminster Bridge as part of a demonstration organised by Defend our Juries, in support of Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square