The Metropolitan Police has been forced to apologise after an antisemitism campaigner was called ‘openly Jewish’ and threatened with arrest at a pro-Palestine rally.
Footage shows an officer calling Campaign Against Antisemitism chief executive Gideon Falter ‘openly Jewish’ on April 13 during the march.
He said: ‘You are quite openly Jewish, this is a pro-Palestinian march. I’m not accusing you of anything but I’m worried about the reaction to your presence.’
Mr Falter had been wearing a kippah skull cap when he was prevented from crossing the road near the demonstration in the Aldwych area of London.
A spokesperson for the Home Office said the Government welcomed the Met’s apology and recognised ‘the complexities of policing fast-moving public protests’, but added that being Jewish or any other religion should not be seen as ‘provocative’.
An initial apology from the Met on Friday suggested opponents of the marches ‘must know that their presence is provocative’ and they are ‘increasing the likelihood of an altercation’ by lining the route to object.
But the force subsequently issued another statement apologising for the ‘further offence’ caused by its first apology.
It said: ‘Being Jewish is not a provocation. Jewish Londoners must be able to feel safe in this city.’
The Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We welcome the Met Police’s apology, and recognise the complexities of policing fast-moving public protests, but simply being Jewish – or of any other race or religion – should never be seen as provocative.
‘Anyone of any religion should be free to go about their lives and feel safe doing so.’
It is understood that James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, has written to both the Met and London Mayor Sadiq Khan about the incident.
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Mr Falter said he had been walking in the capital after attending synagogue and was not there to counter-protest.
In the clip, another officer said to him: ‘There’s a unit of people here now.
‘You will be escorted out of this area so you can go about your business, go where you want freely, or if you choose to remain here because you are causing a breach of peace with all these other people, you will be arrested.’
The officer said that Mr Falter’s presence was ‘antagonising’.
Mr Falter said afterwards: ‘Despite being told repeatedly that London is safe for Jews when these marches are taking place, my interactions with police officers last Saturday show that the Met believes that being openly Jewish will antagonise the anti-Israel marchers and that Jews need protection, which the police cannot guarantee.
‘Instead of addressing that threat of antisemitic violence, the Met’s policy instead seems to be that law-abiding Jewish Londoners should not be in the parts of London where these marches are taking place.
‘In other words, that they are no-go zones for Jews.’
Mr Falter said he will be walking in London on April 27, when another pro-Palestinian march is planned to take place between Parliament Square and Hyde Park, adding that no part of the city should be unsafe.
The Met has faced criticism for its handling of a series of pro-Palestinian demonstrations since the renewal of hostilities in Gaza last October.
Last month, the Prime Minister said the public wanted to see officers ‘not merely manage these protests, but police them’, while his former home secretary, Suella Braverman, said the Jewish community had been ‘let down by the authorities’, during a Commons debate in February.
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