Jewish groups claim a hate group marched past a synagogue.
Protesters gather in London (Image: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
Jewish campaigners have urged Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to either resign or be removed from his post amid claims that pro-Palestinian protesters were allowed to “hate march on the doorstep of a synagogue” on Saturday. The Campaign Against Antisemitism said people avoided arrest despite making calls for “intifada” and displaying the flag of Palestinian terrorist organisations.
Placards also claimed that the UK is controlled by “Zionists” and being destroyed by their “greed” during the Palestine Solidarity Campaign Nakba Day rally while anti-Jewish rhetoric was also prevalent by extremist agitators at the so-called Unite the Kingdom rally headed by far-Right activist Tommy Robinson.
The campaign group said: “For all of the words after anti-Jewish terrorist attacks and arson, Saturday proved that when it comes down to it, British Jews are not protected by the Met, they are gaslit by it.
Thousands joined Unite the Kingdom protests on Saturday (Image: Andrea Domeniconi/SOPA Images/Shutterstock)
“We are also aware of displays of some antisemitic messaging on the Unite the Kingdom march. It was absolutely dwarfed by the anti-Jewish hatred engulfing the much smaller hate march organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, whose outgoing leader was recently convicted of inciting a crowd to breach police conditions put in place to protect a synagogue.”
The organisation also claimed that its tough policing approach to Robinson’s rally showed the Met had “glaring double standards” and a “wilful blindness toward the years of hate marches that are the engine rooms of antisemitism at a time when British Jews are being stabbed and our community burned.”
The Met said it is investigating all alleged hate crimes among the 60,000 people estimated to have joined the right wing gathering on Saturday, and between 15,000 and 20,000 attended the Nakba Day rally.
So far a total of 43 arrests have been made, 20 linked to the Unite the Kingdom protest, while 12 were affiliated with the Nakba protest, the force added.
The remaining 11 arrests were not linked to either group, or their affiliation has not been confirmed, the Met said.
About 4,000 police officers were on duty on Saturday. Four officers were assaulted on Saturday and six were subjected to hate crime offences.
Three arrests were as a result of the use of live facial recognition, the Met added. All three were people wanted for failing to appear at court. None were affiliated to the protests taking place the same day.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, posted a video on X from the protest in which he said: “Keir Starmer, the country’s awake, your days are numbered.”
In another he wrongly boasted there were “millions” at the march.
Other speakers included former Apprentice candidate Katie Hopkins, television personality Ant Middleton, former actor Laurence Fox and former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen.
Organisers of the pro-Palestine rally, meanwhile, claimed at least a quarter of a million people attended.
MP Diane Abbott said they faced a “common enemy” in the “far right”.
She added: “They are viciously right-wing, viciously racist, they are anti-black, anti-Muslim, and viciously antisemitic.
Your Party co-founder Zarah Sultana told the protesters that Andy Burnham was “not an alternative” to Sir Keir and “is another establishment politician cut from the same Zionist cloth”.
Prosecutors had been told to consider whether protest placards, banners and chants viewed on social media may amount to offences of stirring up hatred during the rallies.
The new guidance urges prosecutors to assess whether slogans, symbols or chants may influence audiences online if they are filmed and shared.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the revised advice was designed to reflect “the changing international context” and follows separate guidance concerning the fast-tracking of hate crime prosecutions issued earlier this month.
The guidance tells prosecutors to take account of the wider context around protests, including heightened tensions linked to national or international events.
Recent criminal cases have resulted in people being charged after shouting “death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)” and “globalise the intifada”.
The Government had also blocked 11 foreign nationals described by Sir Keir as “far-right agitators” from entering the UK ahead of the Unite the Kingdom rally.
The Met has been contacted for comment.