Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is facing calls to quit or be fired after a campaigner was threatened with arrest for being “openly Jewish” near a pro-Palestine protest.
Gideon Falter, chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), said the April 13 incident happened to him when he went for “a walkabout around London” with others after going to synagogue, noting that’s what he “normally” does.
Assistant Met Commissioner Matt Twist later issued an apology over the incident, but the statement, which also said counter-protesters “must know their presence is provocative,” has sparked more criticisms, forcing the force to issue a new apology over the apology.
Following the debacle, CAA and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Sir Mark “must go” over the Met’s handling of pro-Palestine protests during the Israel–Hamas war.
In a statement, Mr. Falter said Sir Mark “must resign or be removed” by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Home Secretary James Cleverly.
“What happened to me was a disgrace,” he said, adding that the Met’s initial apology was “appalling, abject victim blaming,” and “a stain” on the Met’s reputation.
He claimed that pro-Palestine marches have made British city centres “no-go zones for Jews every weekend for six months” and accused the Met of enforcing “that no-go zone” by threatening to arrest him if he didn’t leave the area.
Criticising Sir Mark, Mr. Falter said “racists, extremists, and terrorist-sympathisers have watched the excuses and inertia of the Met under his command and been emboldened by his inaction at precisely the moment when he should be signalling a renewed determination to crack down on this criminality,” adding, “What the Met under Sir Mark has done to the Jewish community over the course of six months is utterly unforgivable.”
The former minister said she has “seen too much fear and even more favouritism in the policing of pro-Palestinian protests” in an op-ed published in The Sunday Telegraph.
She said the weekly marches are a “waste of police time,” and repeated her characterisation that they are “hate marches.”
“If the Met commissioner is incapable of or unwilling to ensure that his officers enforce the law, and Sadiq Khan is happy with the soft approach to the hate marches, then the prime minister needs to finally get a grip,” she wrote, adding, Sir Mark “must go.”
Other figures including Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden were highly critical of the Met but stopped short of saying Sir Mark should go.
Mr. Dowden told The Sunday Telegraph that the force had been “disrespecting” Jews while Lord Walney, the government’s adviser on political violence, accused the Met of displaying “institutional anti-Semitism.”
In footage posted by CAA, Mr. Falter was seen surrounded by police officers and told he couldn’t walk across the marching crowd, and one officer said he’s worried about the reactions to Mr. Falter’s presence because he was “quite openly Jewish.”
Another officer was heard telling Mr. Falter he would be arrested for “causing a breach of peace” if he refused to be escorted out of the area because his presence was “antagonising a large [number] of people,” and the police “can’t deal with all of them” if they attacked him.
In the now-deleted statement, Mr. Twist said an officer’s use of the term “openly Jewish” denied it’s a basis on which officers make decisions.
The assistant commissioner apologised for the officer’s “poor choice of words” and offences caused.
However, referring to a “new trend” of “those opposed to the main protests appearing along the route to express their views,” the senior Met police chief said, “the fact that those who do this often film themselves while doing so suggests they must know that their presence is provocative, that they’re inviting a response and that they’re increasing the likelihood of an altercation.”
“Being Jewish is not a provocation. Jewish Londoners must be able to feel safe in this city,” the statement reads, adding that the force is committed to protecting “all communities across London.”
Policing minister Chris Philp said on Saturday he was “deeply concerned” and would meet Sir Mark the following week to discuss the incident.
He said: “No one should be told their religion is provocative, nor an innocent person threatened with arrest solely because of someone else’s anticipated unreasonable reaction.”
Home Secretary James Cleverly has also written to the Met and London Mayor Sadiq Khan about the incident.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We welcome the Met Police’s apology, and recognise the complexities of policing fast-moving public protests, but simply being Jewish—or of any other race or religion—should never be seen as provocative.
“Anyone of any religion should be free to go about their lives and feel safe doing so.”
A spokesperson for Mr. Khan said: “Everybody must feel safe going about in London wherever they please.
“The way the original incident was dealt with by the Met was concerning and the original response put out by them was insensitive and wrong.
“The Met have an extremely difficult job—particularly so when it comes to operational decisions taken while policing marches—but in the end the Met must have the confidence of the communities they serve and it is right that they have apologised for the way the incident was handled and their original public response.”
Sir Mark said: “Every member of the Met is determined to ensure that London is a city in which everyone feels safe.
“We absolutely understand how vulnerable Jewish and Muslim Londoners feel since the terrorist attacks on Israel.
“Some of our actions have increased this concern. I personally reiterate our apology from earlier this week.
“Today, as with every other day, our officers will continue to police with courage, empathy, and impartiality.”
