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Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Complaints over pro-Gaza protests are petty tit-for-tat, say police
The Metropolitan Police dismissed complaints about pro-Palestinian protests glorifying the Oct 7 massacre as 'almost petty tit for tat', The Telegraph can reveal. A British-Israeli man told an officer that an activist with a megaphone was shouting praise for Hamas, the Islamist terror organisation behind the attack, during a demonstration last September. He captured the protester chanting 'I love the 7th of October' and 'I like any organisation that starts with H' on video. However, the officer claimed he had not heard the offensive comments and told him to 'calm yourself down' at the rally in Swiss Cottage, north-west London. The British-Israeli man subsequently lodged a complaint with the Met over the dismissal of his concerns. But an official response from Scotland Yard defended the officer's actions, saying: '[The sergeant] said that these weekly protests at Swiss Cottage have become quite heated and there have been almost petty tit-for-tat allegations with absolutely no foundation from either side, in what seems to be an attempt to legitimise their own cause by attempting to get the police to do what they want, despite there being no evidence, or evidence to the contrary.' The response added: 'This was almost bordering on making a false report and wasting police time, however, [the sergeant] said that he believes that the response he gave was proportionate and appropriate in the circumstances.' They said that the pro-Palestine protester had subsequently been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred and inviting support for a proscribed organisation, though he was not charged. The Telegraph revealed on Friday that another Jewish man at the same protest was charged with a public order offence after holding up a cartoon satirising the chief of the proscribed terror group Hezbollah. Police forces across the country are under increasing scrutiny over their apparent failure to confront anti-Semitism, in contrast to several examples of heavy-handed responses to people expressing lawful opinions. The British-Israeli who complained to the Met filmed a video, published by The Telegraph on Friday, in which the offensive pro-Hamas chants can be heard. In the footage, he can be heard asking: 'Did he say I love the 7th of October?' Moments later, he tells an officer: 'He just glorified October 7th!' He then called the demonstrators 'Hamas supporters', to which he said one responded by shouting 'Allahu Akbar' on his megaphone. At this point, a protester's flagpole hit him on the face, triggering an outburst of expletives. In footage published by The Telegraph, the British-Israeli man is then approached by another officer. The man is heard telling the sergeant: 'You didn't hear what they were singing. You don't care what they are singing. They are singing about October the 7th.' 'Let's not put spin on things' When the officer suggests he had not heard, the man says: 'I said they were glorifying October 7th, which infuriated me to call them a 'Hamas supporter'. And then what? They said 'Allahu Akbar'! They confirmed they were Hamas supporters, Sir.' The officer then argues back, insisting: 'No, so 'Allahu Akbar' means 'God is great',' to which the man replies: 'Yes, but when you do it after the Hamas mention, it's this.' But the officer repeats himself and adds: 'Let's not try and put a spin on things that just isn't there, okay?' In its response to the written complaint, the Met said that the officer believed protests needed to be handled with a 'large dose of common sense' and that he believed it was important not to 'get caught up with wild accusations of wrong doing from either side that are being twisted from the facts'. It went on to say: 'This is clearly displayed at the end where [the counter-protester] is trying to make out that saying God is great (Allahu Akbar) is some sort of offence, which it clearly isn't.' The British-Israeli, whose close friends and relatives lost loved ones on Oct 7, said the incident had left him unsure if 'the police are able to protect' the Jewish community. He urged Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Mark Rowley, the Met Commissioner, to 'start enforcing the law'. 'Events that they know they cannot police, don't allow them,' he said. 'They are afraid to say no to the other side. They're afraid to not say yes. They're really afraid to arrest anyone.' The Met has been plagued by allegations of 'two-tier' policing since allowing pro-Palestinian demonstrators to march through London in the wake of Oct 7, including in areas with high Jewish populations and near synagogues. The protests, held near the home of Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, have become weekly events since the Hamas attack on Israel. A Met spokesman said: 'The man who was filmed making the comments in Swiss Cottage on Sept 20 was arrested the following day. 'It would obviously have been preferable if he had been arrested at the time, but officers who were present say they did not hear the remarks. 'A complaint was submitted in relation to the actions of those officers. It has been considered by professional standards officers and no evidence of misconduct was found.' The spokesman added: 'Public order policing generally is challenging. 'Officers are not expected to be experts in the nuances of every issue at every protest they are deployed to. They could be policing a protest on the conflict between Israel and Hamas one day and a protest on tensions in Kashmir the next. 'They are expected to do their best in challenging circumstances, not taking sides and ensuring that groups with opposing views can both protest peacefully, often in close proximity to each other. 'They won't get every decision right nor will they spot every offence as it happens. That would be an unrealistic expectation. There may be times when they need to prioritise the avoidance of disorder, over words being said by those involved. 'We are not solely reliant on officers' immediate actions. We have a dedicated public order crime team who can take investigations forward, just as they did in this case, even if they come to light after events have concluded.'
The Independent
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Jewish protester's fury after being charged with racial harassment over anti-Hezbollah placard
A Jewish protester has hit out after he faced charges of racially aggravated harassment, which were later dropped, for holding a placard depicting a Hezbollah leader. The British man says he was arrested for holding the sign featuring a drawing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah holding a pager to his face with the words 'beep, beep, beep'. The cartoon, which he describes as 'political satire', referred to a September 2024 Israeli attack nicknamed Operation Grim Beeper, in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by the Lebanese group, a proscribed terror organisation in the UK, detonated simultaneously, killing dozens of people and injuring thousands. The protester's home was raided and he was held overnight at a police station after he held the sign, which he says did not belong to him, at a Stop the Hate counter-protest against a pro-Palestine march in Swiss Cottage, north-west London, on 20 September last year. He was later charged under the Public Order Act of causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress by words or writing. But eight months later the charges were dropped, he said, with Crown Prosecution Service saying there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction. The protester, who has not been named, described the Metropolitan Police as 'completely out of their depth' in their policing of regular pro-Palestine marches since the 7 October attacks as he relived his experience in an interview with The Telegraph. Footage of his police interview, published by the outlet, show an officer asking him: 'Do you think that showing this image to persons protesting who are clearly pro-Hezbollah and anti-Israel that by doing so would stir up racial hatred further than it is already?' The man's lawyer responded: 'Are you saying that there were pro-Hezbollah people there? Because it is a proscribed terrorist organisation.' The Met Police have said the officer who interviewed the protester 'clearly misspoke' when she described the pro-Palestine demonstrators as 'pro-Hezbollah'. The counter protester said: 'It beggars belief that police could think that this placard may be offensive to supporters of Hezbollah. 'If there are Hezbollah supporters at these marches, then why weren't charges brought against them for terrorist offences, rather than me being charged for holding a sign that can only be construed as political satire? 'The Met Police are still completely out of their depth when it comes to policing the anti-Israel hate marches we've seen on our streets week in, week out since the 7 October attacks.' Responding to the incident, shadow home secretary Chris Philp described it as an example of 'two tier policing'. 'In recent times, the police have failed to act when confronted with protesters calling for jihad and intifada in London,' he told The Telegraph. "Yet this man was apparently arrested because he might have offended supporters of a banned terrorist organisation.' He added: "The police sometimes turn a blind eye when applying the law might be diffcult yet over-police at other times. The law should be applied equally to all, robustly and without fear or favour." A spokesperson for the Met Police said: 'A man was charged following a careful consideration of the evidence. We will reflect on the CPS decision not to proceed with the case, applying any learning to future investigations. 'The officer who interviewed the man clearly misspoke when she described those in the protest as pro-Hezbollah instead of pro-Palestinian.' The spokesperson added: 'We take support for proscribed organisations very seriously. 'Since October 2023, we have made 28 arrests under the Terrorism Act for offences at protests, including wearing clothing or displaying symbols that indicated support for such groups, including Hezbollah. This is in addition to the hundreds of arrests made for other offences.' A spokesperson from the Crown Prosecution Service said: 'We take any allegations of criminality associated with protests seriously, and balance this against the right to peaceful and lawful protests when determining if an offence has been committed. 'We recognise the need for all communities to have confidence in our prosecutorial decisions and we will continue to work with those affected by the ongoing protests.'
The Independent
24-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Jewish protester charged with ‘racial harassment' over anti-Hezbollah sign
A Jewish man was arrested and charged with 'racially aggravated harassment' after holding a placard at a counter-demonstration depicting a Hezbollah leader. The British man attended a Stop the Hate counter-protest against a pro-Palestine march in Swiss Cottage, north-west London, on September 20 last year when he held a placard featuring a drawing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah holding a pager to his face, with the words 'beep, beep, beep', the Telegraph reported. The cartoon made reference to a September 2024 Israeli attack nicknamed Operation Grim Beeper, in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, a proscribed terror group in the UK, detonated simultaneously, killing dozens of people and injuring thousands. The Telegraph published police interview footage in which an officer asked the counter-protester: 'Do you think that showing this image to persons protesting who are clearly pro-Hezbollah and anti-Israel that by doing so would stir up racial hatred further than it is already?' The man's lawyer then asked: 'Are you saying that there were pro-Hezbollah people there? Because it is a proscribed terrorist organisation.' The protester was later charged under the Public Order Act of causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress by words or writing. The man, who was not named, told the newspaper: 'It beggars belief that police could think that this placard may be offensive to supporters of Hezbollah. 'If there are Hezbollah supporters at these marches, then why weren't charges brought against them for terrorist offences, rather than me being charged for holding a sign that can only be construed as political satire? 'The Met Police are still completely out of their depth when it comes to policing the anti-Israel hate marches we've seen on our streets week in, week out since the October 7 attacks,' he added. The man further told The Telegraph police officers searched his home in an attempt to find the placard, which he claimed was not his. He described how two police vans and six officers arrived to conduct the search, which he said was 'invasive' and 'totally ridiculous'. But eight months later, on May 10, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped the case, saying there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction, according to The Telegraph. The Met Police said on Friday the officer who interviewed the protester 'clearly misspoke' when she described the pro-Palestine demonstrators as 'pro-Hezbollah', adding they will 'reflect on the CPS decision' to drop the case. A spokesperson for the force said: 'A man was charged following a careful consideration of the evidence. 'We will reflect on the CPS decision not to proceed with the case, applying any learning to future investigations. 'The officer who interviewed the man clearly misspoke when she described those in the protest as pro-Hezbollah instead of pro-Palestinian.' The spokesperson added: 'We take support for proscribed organisations very seriously. 'Since October 2023, we have made 28 arrests under the Terrorism Act for offences at protests, including wearing clothing or displaying symbols that indicated support for such groups, including Hezbollah. 'This is in addition to the hundreds of arrests made for other offences.' The CPS has been contacted for comment.
