Organisers of pro-Palestine marches have written to the head of London's Metropolitan Police objecting to his claim that the demonstrations fuel anti-Semitism.
They called for him to withdraw a claim that they often try to include a synagogue on their routes through London.
The Palestine Coalition – which includes groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament – wrote to Commissioner Mark Rowley describing his claims as “incomprehensible and defamatory”.
The letter urges a “speedy retraction of the accompanying scurrilous claim of anti-Semitism”.
But a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said in response that since October 2023 about 30 large marches have been organised by groups that make up the Palestine Coalition.
They added that Sir Mark “pointed out that for around half of those marches, the original proposals put forward by organisers involved starting or ending in the vicinity of, or walking past, a synagogue”.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner had told The Times: “Their initial suggestion for their route, their march, has involved walking by a synagogue.
“Each time we’ve prevented that, we’ve put conditions on.
“The fact that features as the organisers’ intent, I think that sends a message … that feels like anti-Semitism.
“That may be a fair or unfair inference, but that’s the message it sends.”
Society response
The commissioner and other senior British public figures today attended talks in Downing Street with Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss a “whole of society” response to anti-Semitism following the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green, north London, last week.
Mr Starmer said that there would be “consequences” if Iran was found to be behind some of the incidents.
Describing the situation as a “crisis” in the wake of the Golders Green attack, he said new legislation would be rushed through to tackle “malign threats”. Mr Starmer said: “Our message to Iran or to any other country that might seek to promote violence, hatred or division in society is that it will not be tolerated."
On Tuesday, counter-terrorism police were investigating a suspected arson attack at a former synagogue.
Jewish security charity Shomrim said that fire crews were called out to the building in Whitechapel, east London, in the early hours.
The incident is being investigated alongside a number of attacks on Jewish sites in London since late March.
Separately, two people have been arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire at a memorial wall in Golders Green. The wall is a tribute to thousands of protesters killed in a crackdown in Iran in January and is near a Jewish centre.
Normalisation
On Tuesday, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the marches were part of the “normalisation” of anti-Semitic attitudes with echoes of the climate of intimidation created in the 1930s.
She said the hatred was coming from Islamic extremists and a “particularly nasty strand of hard-left ideology”.
The coalition's letter to Sir Mark begins: “We are very concerned to see that you have publicly stated that the organisers’ initial suggestion for the Palestine marches have ‘involved walking by a synagogue’ and that this sends a message that ‘feels like anti-Semitism’. These claims are incomprehensible and defamatory.”
It adds that they were told their first suggested route for the next march was disallowed on the grounds that far-right agitator Tommy Robinson’s demonstration “was inexplicably going to be granted the whole political centre of London, and that we would have to march elsewhere”.
This route has been used “at least twice before” and there are no synagogues, the letter says.
Their second suggestion, that they march from the Israeli embassy via Knightsbridge to Trafalgar Square, has also been disallowed. They said in the letter that this route does not go past a synagogue and a “shorter route has been arbitrarily imposed”.
The letter says: “The truth is that at no point have we ever requested to ‘walk by’ a synagogue on any of our marches …
“It is completely unacceptable for a senior public official to make these false claims and accusations, which can only raise the level of tension in the current situation.
“We urge a speedy public retraction of your statement and the accompanying scurrilous claim of anti-Semitism.”
A Met Police spokesperson said: “The Commissioner’s comments, which were not carried in full in the article, were not specific to the upcoming protest on Saturday, May 16.
“He was reflecting on the totality of the period of sustained protest since October 2023 during which we have seen around 30 large marches organised by the groups that make up the Palestine Coalition.
“He pointed out that for around half of those marches, the original proposals put forward by organisers involved starting or ending in the vicinity of, or walking past, a synagogue.
“On 20 occasions the route or form-up point has been changed to protect Jewish communities and sensitive premises from disruption and/or intimidation, either by the imposition of conditions or as a result of pre-event discussions between officers and organisers.
“The Commissioner added that the organisers’ intent to continue to try and assemble or pass close to synagogues on so many occasions could, in his view, send a message to Jewish communities which feels like anti-Semitism.
“He recognised that may or may not be a fair inference, but the strength of feeling from those communities makes clear that for many, it is the message it sends.”
