'The Met Police are making no-go areas for Jews': Campaigner slams force who ... trends now

A Jewish campaigner who was threatened with being arrested by the police for being near a pro-Palestine march has accused the Met of allowing 'no-go zones for Jews'.

Gideon Falter, the chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, was pulled aside by an officer who said he was 'breaching the peace' because he was 'quite openly Jewish'.

Video of the confrontation, which was shared online, has sparked a furious response after an officer told Mr Falter his presence as he tried to walk around London after going to a synagogue on Saturday was antagonising a large group of people'.

He has now accused the Metropolitan Police failing to address 'the threat of antisemitic violence' and has called for a mass demonstration by Jewish and non-Jewish people to show 'no part of London should be unsafe'.

The Met has apologised to Mr Falter and said the use of the phrase 'openly Jewish' by the office was 'hugely regrettable' and insisted officers were intervening not to stifle free speech, but to 'keep the public, including all those taking part or opposing the protest, safe'.

In a video shared by CAA from Saturday's march, Mr Falter - who was wearing a kippah on his head - was seen telling the officer: 'I don't want to stay here, I want to leave.' 

The officer then replies: 'In that case sir, when the crowd is gone I will happily escort you out.' 

After the defiant man attempts to walk across the road in the Aldwych area, the officer blocks him and says: 'I don't want anybody antagonising anybody... and at the moment sir, you are quite openly Jewish. This is a pro-Palestinian march. 

'I am not accusing you of anything but I am worried about the reaction to your presence.'

Later on in the video, another officer says: '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.'

He clarifies: 'Your presence here is antagonising a large group of people that we can't deal with all of them if they attack you... because your presence is antagonising them.'

Speaking afterwards, Mr Falter said the Met was essentially creating 'no-go zones' in the capital for Jewish people by taking this approach.

He said 'Last Saturday, I walked around London after attending synagogue. I wore my kippah (skullcap) and held a small bag containing my prayer shawl. I was identifiable as a Jew but was otherwise like any other Londoner. 

'I was not part of any protest or counterprotest, and was not wearing any stickers or carrying any signs, flags or the like. I was exercising my right to walk around my home city as a Jewish Londoner. 

'A year ago, that would not have been controversial. But now, it is.

'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.

'Even as the Met Commissioner apparently refuses to do anything about this, it is time for a change on the ground. Next Saturday, 27th April, we will be walking again, hopefully in larger numbers. No part of London should be unsafe for any of its residents.

'The Met has acknowledged the condemnation of their behaviour. They have pledged to accommodate any protest or march that we wish to arrange. But this shows they still do not get it. 

'We are not organising a march. We are planning to walk through London — any part of London we want - as Jews. Walking around as Jews in London shouldn't have to be a 'cause' that we have to 'march' for. It is a right, and we will exercise it.'

Speaking after the video was released, Mr Falter said: 'For months we have been told that when anti-Israel protests course through London it's perfectly safe for Jews.

'Notwithstanding the antisemitic placards, the genocidal slogans, the glorification of Hamas, the Islamist flags, the swastikas, notwithstanding all of that, it's still safe to be openly Jewish on the streets of London during these anti-Israel protests. That's what we're told and yet that's not true in practice.'

Mr Falter said he was not criticising the officers who he spoke to on Saturday, as they are 'put in impossible positions week in, week out'. 

He said: 'They're being asked to police huge protests with few officers where there's all sorts of criminality on display from racism to glorification of terrorism, and even violence.'

Mr Falter said: 'It has been six months now where every single weekend we have to witness the streets of London awash with people, many of whom seem to have no problem at all declaring their full-throated support for Hamas, waving around antisemitic placards, calling for jihad, showing swastikas, waving antisemitic flags. It's enough.

'I'm asking you to join us, whether you're Jewish or not. The next march is on April 27, it's a Saturday. Take a walk with us, the Jewish community, and show that we are not going to be put in a box or told where to go by the Met. 

'That if these marches are truly safe then we will walk wherever we want as Londoners who are free in our home city and if we want to wear a kippah that is exactly what we will do.'

Matt Twist, the Metropolitan Police's assistant commissioner, said the video posted by the Campaign Against Antisemitism will 'further dent the confidence of many Jewish Londoners which is the opposite of what any of us want'.

He said: 'The use of the term 'openly Jewish' by one of our officers is hugely regrettable. It's absolutely not the basis on which we make decisions, it was a poor

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