Chants about ‘Zionist scum’ at ‘anti-racist’ rally won’t be investigated, Met Police say

Although the Ukip march was moved to Marble Arch, the planned counter-protest, which had been championed by local mayor Lutfur Rahman, still went ahead.

At the march, some of the protesters were heard to chant “Zionist scum, off our streets” and “We don’t want no Zionists here” as well as "With our souls and our blood, we will redeem you, oh al-Aqsa!" – a chant referencing the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, which has previously been used by leading Hamas figures.

But despite this, no action was taken as police claimed it would be unlikely to result in prosecution.

The Metropolitan Police told the JC: “The chants you’ve referenced are all the same or similar to ones that we have assessed and sought guidance on from the Crown Prosecution Service at various points over the past two years, and the outcome of those discussions was that they are not likely be criminal offences in most contexts, including at protests.”

But Jewish communal groups hit out at the slogans.

"This was a rally where participants chanted slogans that vilify and dehumanise Jews under the guise of ‘anti-racism’. They looked less like anti-racists, and more like the mob the Cable Street marchers faced down,” Claudia Mendoza, CEO of the Jewish Leadership Council told the JC.

A spokesperson for the Community Security Trust added: “It is extremely frustrating to be told that these inflammatory chants are not likely to be a criminal offence when their content should be deeply offensive to anyone.

“This march was threatening in the extreme, and the law needs to be able to address this kind of behaviour.”

However, earlier this week, Downing Street appeared to suggest that the police did have powers to take action against protesters who chant antisemitic slogans.

Asked about the chants at the rally, a Downing Street spokesperson told reporters on Monday that “the prime minister has been very clear on antisemitism and the need to tackle it at source.

“The police … already have extensive public order powers to tackle incidents of the kind that you just touched on, and we would expect the police to robustly deploy them where necessary, where they think that it is operationally necessary to do so.”

Although he stressed that the police are operationally independent of politicians, “the management and policing of protests is for the relevant police force to manage”.

When it comes to the issue of chants involving the word “Zionist”, the JC understands that there is a lower likelihood of criminal prosecution than if the word “Jew” were to be used.

Senior government figures have recently robustly challenged the use of antisemitic language at demonstrations.

In an interview with the JC on Tuesday, Sarah Sackman, the Justice Minister, said that when pro-Palestine protesters cross the line into antisemitism, “they should feel the full force of the law”.

Similarly, earlier this month, Sir Keir Starmer has said that he thinks that the chants “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “globalise the intifada” are antisemitic.

Speaking to the JC, the Prime Minister said that, despite opposing many of the slogans on them, he would not want to ban pro-Palestine marches: “I don't think we can say to anybody that they no longer have the right to freedom of expression and freedom to protest”.

During a visit to the CST, he told those present that he and the Home Secretary were introducing new measures to take account of the “cumulative impact” on the Jewish community of repeat protests.

He also said that the chants heard during pro-Palestine demonstrations had “to be dealt with in a different way”, than they had been up until now.