B’nai B’rith UK statement on the police incident in London

B’nai B’rith UK is deeply disturbed to learn of the incident in London involving CAA campaigner, Gideon Falter. In what appears to be a form of victim blaming, Falter was threatened with arrest for a breach of the peace due to the fact that his looking ‘openly Jewish’ was deemed antagonistic to anti-Israel protestors. Given the police’s priorities in detecting and preventing crime, they should have clamped down on racist intimidation and threats of violence from the crowd, rather than turn on a law abiding citizen. The weekly demonstrations against Israel have all too frequently been accompanied by antisemitic chants and slogans, something that has led one anti-extremism campaigner to call London a ‘no go zone for Jews every weekend’. In no sense can this represent a balance between the right to protest and the right of minorities to move freely in their own country. The Metropolitan Police must urgently address these concerns if they are to win back the confidence of the Jewish community.