Jewish leaders have accused the Mayor of London of a “dismissive” and “failed” response to antisemitism after the weekend saw yet another pro-Palestine demonstration in the capital marred by offensive chants and placards.
Communal groups and figures from across the political spectrum have attacked Sir Sadiq Khan – who oversees the Metropolitan Police – for what they claim is inaction and seeming indifference to repeated calls for violence against Jews and Israelis at anti-Israel protests since October 7, 2023.
There has also been strong criticism of Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley for failing to make greater use of powers in policing demonstrations, especially after the recent series of attacks on Jews.
There were chants of “intifada” and “death to the IDF” at Saturday’s Nakba Day march, as well as signs saying “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a slogan which the prime minister has previously told the JC he considers to be antisemitic.
One speaker addressing the protesters called Zionism a “cancer”.
At Westminster Synagogue, located close to the march route, Shabbat service attendance fell as congregants chose to avoid the potentially hostile crowds.
The Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) has now hit out at the mayor’s response and criticised the Met for failing to impose restrictions that would have ensured the route avoided Westminster Synagogue.
Russell Langer, Director of Public Affairs at the JLC, told the JC: “There were Jewish Londoners who chose not to attend synagogue last Saturday because doing so would have meant passing through hostile crowds attending the Nakba 78 march.
“At that march, we again saw a significant number of alleged offences committed openly and without effective policing, including repeated chants in support of an ‘intifada’, just two weeks after Jews were stabbed on the streets of Golders Green.
“The response from the Mayor of London has too often appeared dismissive and inadequate, marked by a failure to condemn the repeated criminality seen at events presented as peaceful protests.”
Langer had more muted criticism of the force, saying: “By contrast, the Met Police have at least recognised many of these concerns. Yet despite having used their powers in the past, they failed to act to prevent this protest once again infringing the right of Jewish Londoners to attend synagogue services safely and without intimidation. Warm words about fighting antisemitism mean little if they are not matched by action.”
Also in London on Saturday there was a far-right “Unite the Kingdom” demonstration, to which the mayor seemed to respond with a post saying: “Hate is loud. Love is louder.”
A Labour source told the JC: “Sadiq Khan was right to post on social media that hate is loud, but love is louder. It is a great shame that he hasn’t shown the same sort of vigour in opposing the awful content that has been on display in these marches for over two years and that make Jewish Londoners think twice about coming into central London.”
This was not the only figure from the traditional left to raise concern over the mayor’s approach.
Lord Walney, former Labour MP and the government’s former independent adviser on political violence and disruption, said a robust approach to extremists – from national as well as local government – on the streets of London was needed to win back the trust of the Jewish community.
“Labour figures like Sadiq Khan pride themselves on good relationships with the Jewish community in London, but this is being severely undermined by their limp approach to the torrent of antisemitic hatred we see week after week, month after month on the pro-Palestine marches,” he said.
Walney continued: “The status quo is corrosive and dangerous for British Jews who want to be able to go about their lives in peace in the capital. The mayor, the prime minister and the home secretary must publicly recognise that and commit to major change to take the capital back from the extremists.”
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, also accused the London mayor of doing little in the face of the ant-Jewish hostility that has been on display at pro-Palestine demonstrations.
He told the JC: “Sadiq Khan has watched march after march move through London at which Jewish people were subjected to open hatred and intimidation, and he has done nothing about it. Calls for intifada and jihad are blatant incitement to violence and have no place on our streets. Sadiq Khan has failed to call this out. These chants directly fuel antisemitic hate.
“Antisemitism has no place in Britain and real action needs to be taken to stamp it out. This is a national emergency,” he said, adding that the Conservatives would “increase police presence, have urgent prosecutions, put a moratorium on marches, implement maximum sentencing and deterrence, conduct a comprehensive audit of counter-terrorism cases involving antisemitic motivation, and deport foreigners who express antisemitic views or support for violence or terrorism.”
Other leaders had stronger criticism still for the mayor.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) accused Khan and Starmer of showing more concern about the far-right Unite the Kingdom demonstration than about what was said and done at the pro-Palestine protest, which they said showed “a glaring double standard and wilful blindness toward the years of hate marches that are the engine rooms of antisemitism at a time when British Jews are being stabbed and our community burned”.
CAA called on the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to resign or be sacked and accused the force of having “totally lost control of the streets of London”.
Suella Braverman, former Conservative home secretary and now Reform UK’s spokesperson for Education, Skills and Equalities accused Rowley and Khan of “spineless inaction”.
Braverman, who defected from the Conservatives to Nigel Farage’s party earlier this year, was sacked by Rishi Sunak in November 2023 after writing an article in The Times that accused the Metropolitan Police of policing right-wing and nationalist protesters more robustly than pro-Palestine ones.
She continued to say that Khan and Rowley’s refusal “to stop the hate marches will never be forgiven by the Jewish community. The only way for the public to once again trust the police is for Mark Rowley to apologise for the weekly scenes in our capital and then resign.”
In an interview with the JC shortly after the Heaton Park terror attack the prime minister said he believed that “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was an antisemitic chant. By contrast, the mayor previously said that he did not consider it antisemitic.
During his visit to Hatzola north west after the Golders Green terror attack, Sir Keir Starmer also said that the issue of antisemitism on display at pro-Palestine demonstrations was raised with him and that the government was “looking at that to see what more can be done” especially about “the chants” and “some of the banners that are displayed, and the repeated nature of the protests”.
The mayor’s response to the Gaza conflict has angered some in the Jewish community.
In the early days of the war, he – along with Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and some backbench Labour MPs – called for an immediate ceasefire.
Khan was criticised by the Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who said that the call was “irresponsible”, and “a stepping stone to yet more Hamas brutality”.
In an interview with broadcaster Mehdi Hasan in April 2024, Khan claimed that he had been singled out for criticism by some in the Jewish community. He was also accused of implying that the Chief Rabbi had singled him out for criticism because he was Muslim.
“I’d ask those Jewish people to just pause and reflect on their response to me calling for a ceasefire,” Khan said. “What motivated them to come out in the way they did against the Mayor of London, and not the Mayor of Greater Manchester – I’ll give you a clue, he’s not called ‘Ahmed Bourani’, he’s called Andy Burnham, whereas I’m called Sadiq Khan.”
His remarks were widely rebuked. Khan later apologised to the Chief Rabbi and he expressed “deep regret” for his own words.
Khan was recently in attendance at the prime minister’s Downing Street summit aimed at tackling antisemitism.
In an article for The Guardian earlier this month he acknowledged communal desire for tougher action against those who promote hate on demonstrations and said that “anyone stirring up hatred against Jewish people should be more readily arrested and prosecuted”.
As far back as October 2023, the mayor has publicly stated that while he supported the right to protest, “anyone who breaks the law and incites violence or hatred will have action taken against them”.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London told the JC: “The Mayor is determined to stamp out antisemitism and all other hate crime in our city – not only by ensuring the police take a zero-tolerance approach to these crimes, but by continuing to fund in record amounts and support community-led groups to challenge and stand up to antisemitism.
“The freedom to protest is a democratic right but the mayor has been consistent, it must be lawful, peaceful and safe and there is no place for spreading hate. The mayor fully supports the police taking a zero-tolerance approach to anyone using the cover of protest to push antisemitism or any other hate crime. Sadiq has been supportive of the police in their response to the chant ‘globalise the intifada’ – and clear that action will be taken against anyone breaking the law.
“The mayor has also long been clear that if there is uncertainty about which chants cross legal thresholds, if it causes distress or is offensive to Jewish people – if it makes our fellow Jewish friends, colleagues and neighbours scared – it should not be used. Respect for one another must remain the foundation of London life.
“There is absolutely no place in our city for promoting hatred and spreading fear. As Londoners, we must reject all those who seek to sow division and discord in our communities and pull together so that we can continue building a better London for everyone.”
The Metropolitan Police were contacted for comment.
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