Jeremy Corbyn addresses another antisemitism-infested rally, organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, as second ‘Free Palestine’ convoy passes without incident thanks to heavy policing

Yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn addressed another antisemitism-infested demonstration in central London.

An evidence gathering team from Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Demonstration and Event Monitoring Unit was present at the rally in Whitehall and observed countless antisemitic placards, especially ones equating Israel with Nazism, in breach of the International Definition of Antisemitism.

Pamphlets were also distributed at the demonstration explaining, in breach of the Definition, why Israel and the Nazis are indeed supposedly comparable, bizarrely and baselessly accusing the Jewish state of implementing policies of extermination and antisemitism.

There were also signs claiming that the Jewish state abducts and murders children, reminiscent of the antisemitic blood libel.

Mr Corbyn was a keynote speaker at yesterday’s rally, which came just days after he appeared at the Cambridge Union and yet again play down the institutional antisemitism in the Labour Party during his leadership and his own antisemitism, including insisting that one Jewish Labour MP had not been “hounded out” of the Party but had simply “unfortunately decided to resign from the Party”. Following the interview, Campaign Against Antisemitism reiterated our call for Mr Corbyn to be expelled from Labour. It is being reported that the Party is “looking into” his remarks.

Yesterday’s rally was reportedly organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). This is not the first time in recent weeks that a PSC rally has been riddled with antisemitism. An investigation by Campaign Against Antisemitism in 2017 exposed extensive antisemitic bigotry amongst supporters of the PSC.

Yesterday’s protestors were joined by participants in a second ‘Free Palestine’ convoy that drove down to London from cities in the North and Midlands. The returning convoy included some 35 cars (a considerably smaller number than the previous convoy). At one point, police pulled over two cars to prevent them from entering Jewish neighbourhoods in the north of London.

On Friday, the Metropolitan Police Service declined a request by Campaign Against Antisemitism, supported by legal representations from our lawyers, to prohibit the convoy, particularly after the previous ‘Free Palestine’ convoy drove through a Jewish neighbourhood shouting “F*** the Jews…rape their daughters” through megaphones, and a vehicle, believed to be from the convoy, chased a Jewish mother down a London street and rammed her car whilst she was driving her four-year-old child. Four men were arrested and bailed over the former incident and an alleged antisemitic incident committed in Manchester before the convoy arrived in London.

In the event, the Metropolitan Police Service is understood to have placed conditions on the returning convoy and monitored its progress, leading to its intervention to prevent the two cars diverging.

A protest was also held yesterday in Manchester, bringing the city centre to a standstill.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Another weekend, another antisemitism-infested demonstration on the streets of Britain’s capital. Heavy policing ensured the safety of the Jewish community as another convoy was permitted to pass through London. Nevertheless, it is extraordinary that, unlike with any other minority, week after week open displays of anti-Jewish racism in the nation’s capital are deemed acceptable. If the authorities will not bring antisemitic criminals to justice, we intend to use all legal and regulatory avenues to defend our community and force the authorities to act.

“Less remarkable is the ubiquity of Jeremy Corbyn at these rallies. Coming after his remarks earlier this week playing down Labour antisemitism yet again, the Party has ever fewer excuses not to expel him, as we have demanded for several months now.”

Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of over three hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews almost four times more likely to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.