It is time for Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to go
Last Saturday, our Chief Executive went to synagogue and then went for a walkabout in London with a few others.
Just over six months ago, as law-abiding Londoners, that would not have been a problem. Supposedly it still isn’t.
They were openly Jewish but had no badges or placards, were not shouting anything, did not say or do anything political and did not seek to engage with any protesters or join any counter-protest.
They sought to walk through London, wherever they wanted, as Jews.
But they were not able to.
We then announced that, this coming Saturday 27th April, we will be going for a walk through London, openly as Jews and allies, wherever we want. There is more information on the walk below.
In response to our video recounting the incident on 13th April and announcing that we will go for another walk on 27th April, the Metropolitan Police Service released a statement.
The Met Police’s response included an offer to “meet and discuss with anyone who wishes to organise a march or protest ahead of 27th April”.
That is kind of them, but they are missing the point.
We have no intention of starting or joining any protest or counter-protest. Being Jewish in London is not a ‘cause’ that we should need to ‘march’ for. It is a right.
The Met released a number of statements, including one in which an Assistant Commissioner, one of the most senior officers on the force, appeared to double down on the suggestion that an “openly Jewish” person present near these marches could be “provocative”. The statement was an appalling example of victim-blaming, and the Met withdrew the statement and apologised.
The story has received national media coverage, including three front pages this weekend and another three on Monday morning. Campaign Against Antisemitism spokespeople have also featured numerous times across BBC television and radio, ITV, Sky News, LBC and more.
There was also a full interview in The Sunday Times, and on Sunday evening, Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Chief Executive held a one-hour phone-in with Rachel Johnson on LBC, explaining how these marches and the failed policing around them is affecting the Jewish community.
The incident on 13th April and the back-and-forth with the Met just confirm what we know: that it is dangerous to be a Jew in London when these marches are taking place, and the blame for that lies squarely with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley.
What happened last weekend was the inevitable conclusion of six months of inertia and contextualising crimes away by a Met that has curtailed the rights of law-abiding Londoners in order to appease mobs rife with anti-Jewish racists and terrorist sympathisers.
It has been six months of this now, and enough is enough. Britain is a country of tolerance and decency. Jewish people and other law-abiding Londoners should not be intimidated against walking the streets of the cities we live in.
That is why it is time for Sir Mark Rowley to go.
Sir Mark has the distinction of presiding over the worst surge in antisemitic criminality in our capital city since records began. We are in a time when 90% of British Jews say that they would avoid the centre of town when an anti-Israel protest is taking place. Those protests have made our city centres into no-go zones for Jews every weekend for six months now, and as the recent incident showed, that no-go zone is enforced by the Met.
Please join the thousands who have already signed the petition calling on Sir Mark to go.
Walk with us
On Saturday 27th April — the next major anti-Israel march — we are asking you, Jewish or not, to stand up for the tolerance and decency of which this country is so rightly proud, simply by going for a walk.
For those who want to walk together on the 27th, we will suggest a time and location where people can meet, which we will post on our social media accounts on the 26th.
If you would like to be notified of the suggested meeting place and time by e-mail instead, please sign up.
For those who wish to walk with us, please note that we have no intention of starting or joining any protest or counter-protest. We will not have placards or flags, we will not be chanting, we will not be wearing stickers. Those are not things one does when one goes for a walk.
We are not looking for a confrontation. We will simply be walking around our capital city as Jews and law-abiding Londoners, wherever we want. It is our right.
Time to finally proscribe the IRGC and the Houthis
Last weekend, the Islamic Republic of Iran flaunted its true colours and escalated its war against Israel with an unprecedented direct attack in its latest attempt to extinguish the Jewish state.
This is an antisemitic theocracy that means harm to Jews worldwide, Britain and its interests and the West. It is finally time to clamp down on Iran, its proxies and its supporters in the UK.
We have again called on the Home Secretary and the British Government to swiftly proscribe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Houthis — as well as all of the terrorist groups in Gaza that were actively involved in the Hamas-led 7th October attack — and clamp down on the documented threats that they pose to our national security and empower the police to arrest those praising attacks on British shipping every week on our streets.
It makes no sense for Britain to engage this foe abroad while giving its supporters free rein here at home. For months, Britain has been generous with protesters in our own country who support our enemies. The time has come to take the gloves off.
Campaign Against Antisemitism funds successful appeal for Iranian activist’s right to call Hamas terrorists
A judge has rejected an attempt by the Metropolitan Police to prevent Iranian dissident Niyak Ghorbani from attending anti-Israel protests to display his sign calling Hamas terrorists.
Under draconian bail conditions imposed by the police, Mr Ghorbani, who has been arrested and de-arrested several times, would have been prohibited from approaching any demonstrations relating to Israel and Gaza in London.
However, following a successful appeal that was funded by Campaign Against Antisemitism, the court has rejected the Met’s conditions, ruling that they were neither proportionate nor necessary.
All Mr Ghorbani wants to do is point out to anti-Israel marchers that Hamas is a terrorist organisation under UK law.
If only the police were half as concerned with the marchers as with people like Mr Ghorbani. How did British policing get so topsy-turvy?
You may recall that we created t-shirts and hoodies emblazoned with the same message, which we have made available for sale. Many of you have already bought them, wearing them to protests and posting pictures on social media.
These achievements are only possible thanks to our dedicated staff, extraordinary volunteers and your support. Thank you to all of you who support our work.
Passover, which begins this Monday evening, is also known as the Festival of Spring. It is a time of birth and rebirth — of the Jewish people, of the nature all around us — and a time of optimism.
This is not an easy time to celebrate or be optimistic, as hostages remain in captivity, uncertainties abound in the Middle East, antisemitism surges around the world, including here at home in the UK, and policing in London is in shambles.
But let us choose, at this time of rebirth, to remake the environment that we live in. We will start with something simple. We will start with a walk.
Wishing those celebrating a happy Passover!
