Image source, Campaign Against Antisemitism
- Author, Andre Rhoden-Paul
- Role, BBC News
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Rishi Sunak was “appalled” by the way police treated a Jewish man during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in London, a Downing Street source has said.
The Met apologised twice on Friday after an officer described Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) boss Gideon Falter as “openly Jewish”.
On 13 April Mr Falter, who was wearing a kippah skull-cap, was threatened with arrest and told by police his presence was causing a “breach of peace”. He has called for the Met’s commissioner to resign.
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist has written to Mr Falter to offer a private meeting to “apologise to him personally and discuss what more the Met can do to ensure Jewish Londoners feel safe”.
Mr Falter has also asked for a meeting with Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley.
Downing Street said the prime minister had seen the original footage of what happened and was “as appalled as everyone else by the officer calling Mr Falter ‘openly Jewish'”.
The source added it was right the Met apologised, but also criticised the force for “totally mishandling” the situation in which it made an initial apology which it then retracted and followed with a second statement.
“[The prime minister] expects the Met commissioner to account for how it happened and what he will do to ensure officers do more to make Jewish communities in London feel safe – and Sadiq Khan to do his job in holding the Met to account.”
Mayor of London Mr Khan is meeting Sir Mark later on Monday to “discuss community relations” – but it is understood he has full confidence in the commissioner.
New footage has also emerged, recorded by Sky News, which shows Mr Falter telling the police officer he was trying to cross the road.
The video shows the officer tell Mr Falter he “took it upon himself” to deliberately walk “right into the middle” of the march, and said he was “disingenuous” and was trying to “antagonise” others.
The officer said to the campaign boss: “My view is you are looking to try and antagonise things.”
Mr Falter then responded: “I’m not, I’m trying to walk along the pavement.”
‘Treated like a criminal’
Speaking to BBC News, Mr Falter called the experience “frightening” and made him feel like he “was being treated like a criminal for being Jewish”.
The CAA chief executive said the Met’s commissioner had been “curtailing the rights of law-abiding Londoners including the Jewish community to appease lawless mobs”.
“I think it’s time for Sir Mark Rowley to go,” he added.
“We need a new commissioner who understands that the role of policing is… to enforce the law and if the law says that Londoners are able to go wherever they want freely, as long as they’re law abiding, then that’s what they have to enforce.”
But former chief superintendent in the Met Police Dal Babu told BBC Breakfast on Monday that the 13-minute clip of the incident showed “a totally different encounter to the one that Mr Falter has reported”.
Mr Babu said the officer’s “openly Jewish” comment was “not acceptable”. But he added: “What you see [Mr Falter] doing is attempting to go against the march, trying to push past the officers, and I think for 13 minutes the officers showed great restraint.
“They offered to take him to a crossing point, they offered to help him and the group he was with the opportunity to cross at a more appropriate place.
“So the narrative that’s been pushed for the past few days is not accurate.
“Personally, if I was policing that march, I would have been inclined to have arrested him for assault on a police officer and breach of the peace.”
Mr Falter told ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday that his members often attend pro-Palestinian marches to “force the police to make sure these things are safe for Jewish people” – and he would turn up at the next one.
He said the protests were “so badly policed, that if you are a Jew on the sideline of this thing, they have to threaten you with arrest to get rid of you”.
In an updated statement on Sunday evening, the Met said it would “remain focused on doing everything possible to ensure Jewish Londoners feel safe in this city”.
The force said it had invited senior representatives from London’s Jewish communities, officials from the mayor’s office of policing and crime, and members of the House of Lords to an “operational planning exercise”.
“This would ordinarily be undertaken in private, but in recognition of the need to engage better and provide reassurance we are inviting community leaders to join us,” it said.
“This is complex, but we will continue to seek the support and insight of all voices who can help us deliver the service London deserves.”
‘Entirely avoidable mistakes’
The Board of Deputies of British Jews is set to meet with the Met commissioner this week following what it described as “a series of high-profile errors” and “entirely avoidable mistakes”.
The Home Secretary James Cleverly has written to Sir Mark and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan asking for an explanation.
On Saturday a spokesman for the mayor said the Met’s handling of the incident was “concerning” and that the force “must have the confidence of the communities they serve”.
The Met commissioner is also expected to meet with Policing Minister Chris Philp.
On Monday, Deputy Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell said the Met’s response was “way over the top” – but stopped short of calling for Sir Mark’s resignation.
Labour’s shadow justice secretary told Sky News she did not think the commissioner should resign.
Shabana Mahmood said she could “understand the strength of feeling” and described the footage as “very concerning”, but believed the commissioner’s resignation was not “the way forward”.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman – who has called for the Met chief to go over the incident – told BBC Radio 4’s programme her complaint was not against individual police officers, but “the wholesale failure to combat antisemitism and to maintain the peace on the streets of London over the last six months”.
Scotland Yard has previously apologised twice for the officer’s phrase.
It said: “Jewish Londoners must be able to feel safe in this city.”
In the original video clip shot at the march, the police officer said: “You are quite openly Jewish, this is a pro-Palestinian march.
“I’m not accusing you of anything but I’m worried about the reaction to your presence.”
The Met has faced criticism for its handling of a series of pro-Palestinian demonstrations since last October, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on Israel.
