London in chaos as the Met finally takes on the marches
Saturday was a dark day for London.
Not only did we see the usual antisemitic bile and open support for Jew-hating terrorist organisations to which our nation’s capital has become accustomed, but extremists repeatedly breached the modest restrictions imposed by the police on the anti-Israel protest. Frontline officers acquitted themselves superbly in the face of extremely challenging circumstances, making numerous arrests across central London, but why had they been put in such a dangerous position by their superiors?
Over the course of the preceding days, the Met Police and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) argued online and in meetings about the route of Saturday’s regular anti-Israel march. The fact that the marches invariably feature antisemitic rhetoric and sympathy for terrorism have sadly not prevented them from becoming a weekly staple of London life.
The PSC wanted to march from near Broadcasting House to Whitehall, as per their usual route. For once, the Met Police decided to impose restrictions on their march under section 12 of the Public Order Act, insisting that the march could not assemble near Broadcasting House due to its proximity to London’s Central Synagogue, which has borne the brunt of these intimidatory marches for over a year.
The PSC defiantly declared that the march would assemble at Whitehall and end at Broadcasting House. The Met said that this was unacceptable and directed that the march should form up at Russell Square instead and then head to Whitehall. The PSC then decided that it will assemble at Whitehall and indicated that the march will likely now become a static protest, but appeared to leave the door open to marching.
Indeed the PSC spent all of last week posting online with the hashtag #WeWillMarch.
When Saturday came, chaos ensued. The police arrested some 77 individuals, some 66 of whom in relation to breaches of the modest conditions that the police had imposed, in what the Met described as “a coordinated effort to breach Public Order Act conditions and cause serious disruption to Londoners.” Other arrests related to alleged support for proscribed terrorist organisations and other offences, which of course are by now to be expected on the streets of London.
So far, some twelve people have been charged with Public Order offences, including the chief steward of the protest, as well as PSC Director Ben Jamal and Piers Corbyn, while Jeremy Corbyn MP and John McDonnell MP, who ran in the 2019 General Election to become Prime Minister and Chancellor of Exchequer respectively, have been interviewed by the police under caution.
These charges came after we called on the Met to arrest the organisers of these protests.
The Met’s Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, is learning what happens when you bend over backwards to accommodate extremists for fifteen months and then dare to impose a minor restriction. For over a year we have called for these marches to be banned; we reiterated that call on Friday when it was clear that the police would not be able to control the situation. In the event, police authorised a static protest for activists who repeatedly declared, ‘#WeWillMarch’. The result was chaos in London.
What happened on Saturday was not a case of a few bad apples. It is time that the organisers of the protest, several of whom appeared to be involved in trying to break the police lines and defy the conditions, finally be prosecuted and their organisations’ future marches be contained as static rallies.
Anything short of that would broadcast the message that the police have lost control of law and order in our nation’s capital, or, worse still, that some people are above the law, and some forms of extremism are acceptable.
Our Demonstrations and Events Monitoring Unit was on the ground capturing evidence that day. We have a considerable amount of footage from the march, including of the organisers, and we have offered our assistance to the police in this matter. Our analysis has been quoted across the media, from the BBC and Metro to the Independent and The Times.
We will be monitoring whether the arrests lead to charges and the charges to prosecutions, and if necessary we will intervene wherever we can to ensure that justice is done.
Calls to boycott Holocaust Memorial Day
For some weeks now, there have been calls for a boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), which takes place next Monday, 27th January.
Coming after a year of constant antisemitic comparisons of Israel to Nazis and baseless allegations of genocide against the Jewish state, it is not surprising but still despicable that some now seek to deprive the Jewish community and its friends of a day to remember the millions of Jews murdered in an actual genocide.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has reportedly written to 460 town halls and educational institutions calling on them to boycott official HMD events following organisers’ refusal to include references to Gaza in commemorations.
The IHRC is best known for its pro-Hizballah “Al-Quds Day” parades under IHRC-badged placards that read “We are all Hizballah,” and this past summer it reportedly claimed that “Zionist financiers abroad” were to blame for “enabling” the Southport riots. The Chair of the organisation allegedly participated in a vigil in 2020 for the leader of the Iranian IRGC terror group Qassem Soleimani, reportedly saying at the event: “We hope and we pray and we work hard to make sure that there will be many many more Qassem Soleimanis. We aspire to become like him.”
The IHRC is a registered charity. While it may no longer be able to bring itself into any further disrepute, its conduct does still continue to adversely impact the charitable sector as a whole.
In a similar vein, others are planning to hold a Genocide Memorial Vigil in Parliament Square on Saturday, two days before HMD, in what appears to be an unsubtle protest against HMD’s focus on the Holocaust.
It is extraordinary just how intolerable some people find the notion that Jewish people can be victims.
Let your star shine!
On 27th January, the world will commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day and mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
There are so many ways in which we can honour the victims. One of the best ways is to be a proud Jew.
This year, we’re launching our “Let Your Star Shine” campaign. We’re encouraging Jews to confidently wear their Stars of David for the whole world to see, demonstrating their Jewish pride and unwavering opposition to the rising tide of antisemitism.
Send us your selfies where you’re proudly wearing your Stars of David and we will repost them on our social media channels.
All images should be sent to [email protected] with the subject line: “Let Your Star Shine”.
A big thank you to everyone who participated in this video: food writer and chef, Alissa Timoshkina; artist Avraham Vofsi; chef and activist Ben Rebuck; comedian Elon Gold; Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Elie K; actor Jonah Platt; comedian Josh Howie; comedian Judy Gold; entrepreneur Karen Cinnamon; rapper Kosha Dillz; journalist Nicole Lampert; actor Tracy-Ann Oberman; musician Westside Gravy and comedian Zach Margolin.
Antisemitism on dating apps
Antisemites must not be welcome on dating apps.
We are hearing from people who are experiencing antisemitism on these platforms.
If this applies to you, we want to know.
Please e-mail us confidentially at [email protected] with the subject line “Dating apps”.
How has antisemitism shaped English literature?
From Chaucer to Shakespeare, Dickens to Dahl, how has antisemitism shaped English literature?
Our short six-part series chronicling the history of antisemitism in English literature is now available.
In this podcast, we explore the anti-Jewish tropes perpetuated by centuries of literary misrepresentation. Beginning with medieval poetry and concluding with contemporary plays, the series offers a chronological overview, inclusive of social as well as literary context. From Dickens to Dahl, there’s a lot to learn!
You can stream the Antisemitism in English Literature series now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and other major platforms.
Kfir and Emily
This past Saturday, Kfir Bibas turned two years old.
He has spent the majority of his life in Hamas captivity.
We continue to pray for his safe return, along with his brother Ariel and his parents Yarden and Shiri, and all the other hostages who were barbarically abducted by Hamas, an antisemitic genocidal terrorist organisation, and have been held for well over a year.
The ceasefire due to come into force on Sunday was delayed having already been breached by Hamas, which failed to provide the names of the first hostages to be released in the prescribed time frame. To the last, Hamas’ psychological terror continued.
A few hours later, Emily Damari, a British-Israeli national who was brutally kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on 7th October 2023, was freed, along with two other hostages, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher.
Emily can now do something that she has not been able to do in fifteen months: embrace her mother, Mandy, who has been tirelessly working to bring her home.
We joined so many others across the world to call for her release over the past fifteen months. Yesterday, it finally happened.
We are on the right side of history; those who shamefully spread lies to humanise and defend murderous Hamas terrorists, including on the streets of Britain, are on the other.
We pray for the safe return of all of the other hostages, and that this weekend was the last birthday that baby Kfir spends in Hamas’ clutches.
This has been a bittersweet weekend.
There was chaos in London, but the Met has finally taken action against the marches and their organisers.
Frontline police officers conducted themselves superbly in trying conditions, but now it is the failed leadership of the Met that is taking an undeserved victory lap.
Meanwhile, hostages have begun to be released from Gaza but in difficult circumstances and on Hamas’s timeline. Still, after fifteen months of agony, we must take all the good news that we can get.
