Metropolitan police officers “will intervene” in calls for jihad against Israel, a commander said ahead of a pro-Palestinian rally on Saturday.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, Kyle Gordon, who is leading the force’s command team during Saturday’s protest, said, “If somebody is calling for jihad specifically against Israel the officers will intervene, gather the information, report it back into us and we’ll be working with colleagues [from counter-terrorism] in relation to what the best course of action is.”
But the commander said not all chants of “jihad” are unlawful. The head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) also defended the police and the prosecutor’s decision to not pursue actions against those who chanted “Jihad! Jihad!” last week.
“On some occasions that may well constitute an offence depending on where it is said and to whom it is directed and other occasions that may not,” he said.
Controversy on Legality
The word “jihad” is understood by moderate Muslims as an internal spiritual struggle but is often used by extremists as a synonym for holy war against the enemies of Islam.During the Hizb ut-Tahrir rally on Saturday last week, the chants of jihad were filmed when a speaker called for “jihad by armies of the Muslim countries“ to ”liberate people in the concentration camp of Palestine.”
In a report Sir Mark co-authored in 2021, he called for a new set of laws to criminalise hateful extremism, saying many “hateful extremist” activities, such as glorifying terrorism and intentionally stirring up racial hatred, can fall through the cracks between hate crime legislation and laws on terrorism so long as one avoids encourage acts of terrorism or being threatening.
Last week, a march organised by the same groups—Stop the War Coalition and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC)—attracted “up to 100,000” demonstrators, according to the Met’s estimate. The rally was separate from the smaller one organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir, a revolutionist Islamic party.
On Oct. 21, the Met arrested 10 people for “Fireworks, Public Order & Assault and Emergency Service Worker Offences.” One of them received a caution, five had been bailed, and four remained in custody on the following day.
A further arrest was made on Oct. 22 “on suspicion of inciting racial hatred” after the man was filmed chanting curses against non-believers, or so-called infidels, the Jews, and Israel the day before.
The Met is still looking for a man who was pictured holding and waving a placard with the words “I fully support Hamas” on it during the rally last week.
Two women had pictures of a paraglider taped on their backs while a third woman had a placard with the paraglider image attached to it.
Motorised paragliders were among the vehicles used by Hamas terrorists to cross the Israeli border on Oct. 7 when they massacred Israeli civilians and some soldiers, raped women, and took hostages.
The deadly conflict has also led to a strain of racial tension in the UK. Last week, the Met said it had received 218 anti-Semitic allegations and 101 Islamophobic allegations between Oct. 1 and Oct. 18, compared to 15 and 42 during the same period last year.