Outrage after speaker at Leeds rally says ‘we have to hold Jewish communities to account’ and backs Palestinian ‘armed resistance’

Simon Myerson KC, the chair of Leeds Jewish Rep Council, criticised the police for rejecting a full investigation and “dismissing the possibility of offences. 

“It seems to me that offences of putting people in fear of violence, harassment and encouragement of terrorism are all worthy of serious consideration,” he said.

An estimated 150-400 people marched through Leeds town centre on Saturday. There were also four speakers: British-Syrian writer and activist, Lisa Minerva Luxx; Shezana Hafiz, an outreach coordinator for CAGE; and two NHS doctors, Dr Rehiana Ali and Aladwan.

Dr Aladwan proudly shows off her "'Anti-Semite' Semite Club" T-shirt (Image: Twitter/ @doctor_rahmeh)[Missing Credit]

Aladwan, who was wearing a T-Shirt which read ‘Anti-Semite’ Semite Club, told the crowd: “The reason why they didn’t want me and Dr Rehiana, but mostly me, to speak today, was because I have called on my anti-Zionist Jewish colleagues and allies and friends to hold their Jewish communities accountable. That’s why they don’t want us to speak.

“Because at the same time as they’re saying not all Jews – we’re not saying all Jews, we’re saying that the Jewish schools, institutions, synagogues – there are no anti-Zionist Jewish schools or synagogues in Britain. There are anti-Zionist Jews, so what we do is, we appeal to our allies, those anti-Zionist Jews, to, you know, nurture anti-Zionism in their communities.

“We do not have direct access to synagogues or Jewish communities ... but they can, they can reach out to those Jewish communities, they can tell their synagogues ‘can you stop funding, and fundraising for the IOF’, they can tell their schools ‘we shouldn’t teach that Palestine is a G-d given right and that colonising it is OK’.

“So that is, is why they don’t want us to speak, but I think that needs to happen because everybody needs to be held to account. If we are going to see everybody as equal, we have to see our Jewish communities as equal too and hold them to account.”

Elsewhere in the speech, Aladwan said to the cheering crowd: “Our path to liberation, we know, is our right to resistance. You [pointing] said resistance, resistance is every way, it’s BDS, but it’s also armed resistance, and that’s enshrined in our rights, in international law, in the Geneva Conventions.

"So every Palestinian who is defending their land, themselves, the children that we see, they’re heroes, yeah, if they pick up a weapon and they defend themselves, they have every right to and they are heroes for doing so."

Later in the speech, she said: “We don’t recognise Israel as a state. It doesn’t exist, it sits on Palestine, it has to go. It’s inevitable, it’s non-negotiable (cheers)."

Responding to the rally, CST told the JC: “It is utterly shocking for such an antisemitic and extreme speech to be made openly on the streets of a British city.

“To hear the crowd cheering when Dr Aladwan said that the Jewish community must be ‘held to account’ was chilling, as was her blatant support for the use of violence.

“The police and local authorities need to ensure that this kind of outright hatred is not allowed to happen with impunity.”

At another point in her speech Dr Aladwan told the crowd: “You know, everybody talks about the physical occupation in Gaza, in Palestine, in the West Bank, but our Western governments are occupied themselves.

“And you know, we talk about being occupied by Zionism, which is Jewish supremacy, ok - that’s the definition of Zionism.

“It’s reflected in the fact that 25 per cent of our MPs are directly funded by the Israel lobby, that’s not a small percentage. And these 25 per cent, they pass legislation, they stand in our House of Commons, and they put the interests of Israel above the interests of Britain. So these people are compromised. They’re collaborators, they’re foreign agents, basically, right?”

Dr Rehiana Ali, a consultant neurologist – who was suspended earlier this year after calling former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar a “legend” and calling for “Israel” to be dismantled – told the crowd: “The UK is completely beholden to Israel. It’s occupied, and we need to deal with that.”

She went on to say: “On the 21st August, this coming Thursday, there’s going to be a global strike for Palestine. No work. No trade. No business as usual. This Holocaust needs to end. We need to hit them where it hurts.

“Everyone knows Israel has no ethics, it has no moral framework, it has no conscience. You will be the next Amalek. So before it’s too late, let’s dismantle Israel.”

Myerson criticised the police response to the speeches. He said: "I was surprised to read the police statement. I have seen and studied the videos. In describing Zionism as ‘Jewish supremacy’, saying Western governments are occupied by Zionism (therefore by Jewish supremacy) and calling for armed resistance, it seems to me that the offences of putting people in fear of violence, harassment and encouragement of terrorism are all worthy of serious consideration.

“That would demand a full police investigation. By dismissing the possibility of offences on the say so of an unnamed ‘senior investigating officer’ that investigation is bought to a juddering halt.

"I do not know if that officer has any training in antisemitism. Nor do I know whether he thought of the potential radicalisation of a crowd –which is hardly representative of an educated society, but which had already chanted ‘death to the IDF’ and ‘intifada’ before this speaker told them that Israel had no right to exist, and was occupying our country. I would have thought that a reference to Prevent might have been considered.

“I am also mindful of the fact that the police, having refused to act to prevent these speakers making these racist remarks, are now marking their own homework. Any arrest would be bound to raise the question of why this was allowed to happen when the police were warned about it. The obvious conflict is so apparent that I am surprised that West Yorkshire did not ask a different force to take over this investigation.

"I am meeting the police on Tuesday morning and I will see if I can get any response to any of these questions then.”

Activists came from all over the north of England to join the protest (Image: News Now Yorkshire/ YouTube)[Missing Credit]

On Sunday, Leeds Jewish Representative Council (LJRC) released a statement accusing the national and local government, the police and the CPS of “failing to confront antisemitism”.

West Yorkshire Police told the JC: “A pro-active policing operation was held on Saturday in relation to a pre-planned protest which began at St Peter’s Square in Leeds City Centre.

“One man was arrested at the protest on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation.

“The man, who is aged 63 and from Wakefield has been released on bail pending further enquiries.”

They also added: “West Yorkshire Police is extremely experienced at policing events such as these and is fully committed to ensuring people’s democratic right to protest is supported, balancing the rights of protesters with the rights of others while working to minimise disruption and keep the public safe.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Dr Rahmeh Aladwan’s reported rants about Zionism being a form of ‘Jewish supremacy’ and a quarter of MPs being funded by the ‘Israel lobby’ bring the medical profession into disrepute.

“An individual who expresses views like these has no place practising medicine. We have already reported Dr Aladwan to the GMC. It is concerning that we are yet to receive even an acknowledgement, let alone a substantial response, from the GMC. She must be suspended urgently, pending an investigation. Such contemptible conduct is incompatible with the values that the public rightly expects of doctors and nurses.”

 Leo Brosh, the JLC's Yorkshire Regional Manager, said: “On Saturday, two NHS doctors spoke at a demonstration in Leeds City Centre. In the speeches, Jewish schools were singled out and conspiracy theories about our community were amplified. Dr Rahmeh Aladwan also called for the destruction of the state of Israel through armed resistance. These remarks must be taken seriously by West Yorkshire Police and the GMC should finally step up and protect Jewish patients.”

A spokesperson for the West Yorkshire Combined Authority told the JC: “Antisemitism is unacceptable, and we must continue to do all we can to root it out of our society.

"West Yorkshire Combined Authority officers met with members of the Leeds Jewish Representative Council, the police, and Leeds City Council to discuss the demonstration. The role of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is to hold the police to account and not direct operational policing decisions.

“The Deputy Mayor has committed to meeting again with the Leeds Jewish Representative Council in the coming weeks. We will continue to liaise closely with West Yorkshire Police in response to feedback from the community."

West Yorkshire Police has been contacted for comment.

In response to a request for comment, Aladwan told the JC: "For the avoidance of any doubt, my speech was not 'Anti-Semitic', 'extreme', and I cannot undertand [sic] how any reasonable person would seek to impute such a meaning from it. I support military intervention to stop the Holocaust in Gaza and to dismantle 'israel'—a position that is entirely legal."