The police have no shame

Two-tier policing laid bare

Concerns of serious disorder recently prompted the Metropolitan Police to ban a demonstration from taking place in Tower Hamlets over this past weekend.

The event, initially advertised as a march and subsequently as a static protest, was organised by the UKIP political party as part of a series of events reportedly billed as a ‘mass deportations tour’.

The British Government’s former independent adviser on political violence and disruption was as astonished as we are by the contrast of this decision in comparison to the Met’s policy on Palestine marches for the past two years.

For two years, hate march after hate march has coursed through London. They have called for “Jihad”, which the police explained away, and chanted “Globalise the intifada”. They have dressed as terrorists and chanted ancient battle cries warning Jews: “Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews! The army of Mohammed is returning”.

For two years, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has gaslit Londoners, telling us that he lacked legal powers and that the marches were peaceful anyway. He has spent approaching £100m of our money ‘policing’ these marches by threatening to arrest people like CAA Chief Executive Gideon Falter for being “quite openly Jewish” and interrogating a man for wearing a “provocative” Star of David necklace.

The Met’s decision about the march in Tower Hamlets, whatever its specific merits or otherwise, was made in response to “significant community concerns.” Our community’s concerns have been so significant that people are avoiding town completely and even emigrating, but that has not swayed the Met’s policy even after two long years.

Enough is enough. This is two tier policing. Sir Mark Rowley must resign immediately or be sacked.

CAA Director of Investigations and Enforcement Stephen Silverman discussed the use of police powers hitherto unused in relation to the regular hate marches on GB News.

Doctor whose interim suspension was lifted is arrested

Dr Rahmeh Aladwan has been arrested.

We have submitted numerous complaints to the General Medical Council (GMC) regarding this doctor, who is a prolific poster of the most deranged material and claims about Jewish people, and is self-evidently unfit to serve as a regulated professional. Nevertheless, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) inexplicably disagreed, allowing her to continue to practice as a trainee pending further investigation, and we threatened legal action.

But now even the Met Police — hardly the most proactive institution in the fight against antisemitism — believes that her conduct is so incendiary as to have potentially crossed the criminal threshold.

What an absolute embarrassment to our medical regulator, and what a disgrace that it cannot see what ordinary people and even the Met Police can. Clearly, the GMC and the MPTS are unfit for purpose.

A day after we threatened legal action, the doctor was re-referred to the tribunal, and a hearing was held on Friday, at which it was decided to hold a new, full hearing on the matter of the interim suspension.

We are continuing to monitor developments and doing everything that we can to ensure that all of the relevant authorities – from the police to the regulators – uphold their duty.

Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of CAA, spoke to Julia Harley-Brewer about antisemitism in the NHS

Threats to behead a Jewish academic

Threats to chop off heads.

Nazi accusations.

Genocidal chanting.

That is what Professor Michael Ben-Gad has recently faced at City St George’s, University of London.

His lectures have also reportedly been disrupted by activists claiming that he has blood on his hands, supposedly because he served, as part of the mandatory draft, in the IDF decades ago.

To his credit, Prof. Ben-Gad says that he will not be cowed by the activists, whom he reportedly and justly compared to Hitler’s Brownshirts.

But this sort of horrific environment has also become an everyday reality for too many Jews on too many campuses across this country.

Since the 7th October 2023 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, a deluge of abuse and intimidation has overwhelmed Jewish students and staff on university campuses across the country.

The vicious campaign to target Professor Ben-Gad is the latest manifestation of this alarming and dangerous rise in antisemitic harassment within these environments. It is generally recognised that the normalisation over the last two years of the kind of hateful rhetoric being directed at him was a factor in the terrorist atrocity in Manchester at the beginning of this month, in which two Jews were murdered while attending synagogue on Yom Kippur.

The behaviour of the students involved was not only reprehensible, but the incident demonstrates the environment that has been allowed to develop at City, as well as on campuses across the country. Something is desperately wrong.

City St George’s must investigate these incidents immediately and report them to the police where necessary.

We are in touch with Prof. Ben-Gad and are writing to the University.

Join our team and help us fight the menace of campus antisemitism

We are recruiting a full-time, entry-level Education and Outreach Officer, to run our campus and schools programmes and more.

Help make a difference in the fight against antisemitism!

For more information, please visit antisemitism.org/jobs/education-and-outreach-officer.

CAA Student Ambassadors induction

Following the success of our Student Ambassador programme last year, this past week we hosted our newest cohort of Student Ambassadors from universities across the country.

Our ambassadors – a mix of Jewish and non-Jewish students – took part in a full-day induction designed to introduce them to their roles, explore examples of campus antisemitism and provide an in-depth understanding of the various elements of our work.

The day provided an opportunity for Ambassadors to connect with each other and our team while preparing to confidently advocate against antisemitism on their campuses.

They left the induction equipped to make a real difference to the welfare of their peers and in the fight against antisemitism.

We wish them every success and are confident that they will be a fantastic cohort of current and future leaders.

A shocking betrayal of the Jewish community in Brighton

Brighton’s Jewish community appeared to be censored and silenced at a recent full meeting of Brighton and Hove Council.

A Jewish deputation arguing against a proposed Israel boycott measure and condemning Hamas had its speaking time slashed in half, and references to the 7th October Hamas attack were removed. The deputation was labelled “genociders.”

Mayor Amanda Grimshaw intervened as Sue, one of the representatives, attempted to deliver her deputation. What followed was a series of speeches from Labour Leader Bella Sankey and others that strongly criticised Israel, with only Cllrs Lyons and Meadows speaking in defence of the Jewish community.

Members of the community have said that the censorship appeared intended to clear the way for the Council to pass a motion repeating false allegations of genocide in Gaza and calling for divestment from Israel — a move that departs from official Labour Party policy.

According to our representative polling of the Jewish community, 84% of British Jews agree that boycotts of Israeli artists, academics or businesses selling Israeli products constitute intimidation — making Brighton’s motion particularly alarming.

This is a profound betrayal of the local Jewish community. Brighton Council has chosen political posturing over the concerns of its residents. These performative gestures contribute to the toxic atmosphere in our country that enables antisemitism.

For shame.

Former Lib Dem Harrogate councillor reportedly arrested

Former Liberal Democrat Councillor Pat Marsh has reportedly been charged with racial hatred.

She was arrested in early 2024 and was rightly removed from the Lib Dem group on the Council, after we and others publicised posts from her social media.

She then sat as an independent for a short while before resigning from the Council.

We understand that a complaint was submitted to the Lib Dems against her, but the Party decided only to issue her with a formal warning, despite the grievous allegations.

We are now asking the Lib Dems to clarify if she is in fact still a member of the Party.

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Visit antisemitism.org/shop to find out more!

The shamelessness of the police continues to astound us

To have spent two years denying that they have certain powers that we have urged them to apply against the Palestine marches, only to apply them now in relation to a demonstration impacting a different minority community, is an insult to the Jewish community and all Londoners who believe in a single tier of justice for everyone.

We were the first to call out policing failures within weeks of 7th October 2023. Some criticised us then for doing so, but everyone now sees what we already saw then: police chiefs who did not take the concerns of the Jewish community seriously. It is appalling that none of them have faced any repercussions or had the decency to resign.