From the Liveblog of
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Jewish activist calls for top London cop to quit after officers said his kippa ‘provoked’ anti-Israel crowd, threatened to arrest him
A British campaigner against antisemitism has called for the head of London’s Metropolitan Police to resign after he was told that he’s too “openly Jewish” to approach an anti-Israel march last week.
“The Met has dented the confidence of Jewish Londoners and for that reason we feel that Sir Mark Rowley has to go,” Gideon Falter, head of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, writes in London’s Sunday Times.
“He’s lost control of the streets and he needs to either resign or be removed. How else is this going to change?” Falter says.
The charity Campaign Against Antisemitism released a video late on Thursday which showed a police officer preventing Falter, its chief executive, from crossing a road in the capital because of the protest on April 13.
The officer was videoed telling Falter he feared his presence could prompt a “reaction” because he was “quite openly Jewish.”
Later in the video, another officer is seen telling Falter that if he did not agree to be escorted from the area, he would be arrested.
Falter said he was walking through London after attending a synagogue and was not part of “any protest or counterprotest.”
In an initial apology, the Metropolitan Police said that Falter’s presence could be seen as “provocative,” but it later retracted the statement and issued a new apology.
“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.”
Enough is enough. It is time for a major change.
On Saturday 27th April — the next anti-Israel march — we are asking you,… pic.twitter.com/lfJr7UZnif
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) April 18, 2024
