Met Police antisemitism row - live: Gideon Falter says police response ‘shambolic’ as Sunak backs Mark Rowley
Gideon Falter has renewed his criticism of the Met Police, claiming he has not been offered a meeting with Sir Mark Rowley as the commissioner suggested.
Sir Rowley and London mayor Sadiq Khan met with members of London’s Jewish community, including the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the London Jewish Forum and the Community Safety Trust, earlier today.
In a statement, Mr Falter said: “Since the incident, the Met has issued and withdrawn a series of statements, some apologetic and some belligerent. There have also been suggestions in the media that the Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has offered to meet with me. No such meeting has been offered”.
“The Met’s response to this incident has been shambolic,” he added.
This comes as prime minister Rishi Sunak expressed his confidence in under-fire commissioner Sir Mark.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference this morning, Mr Sunak said: “What happened was clearly wrong. And it’s right that they’ve apologised for that.
“I do have confidence in him, but that’s on the basis that he works to rebuild the confidence and trust of not just the Jewish community, but the wider public, particularly people in London but more broadly,” he added.
Key Points
Sir Mark Rowley will meet members of London’s Jewish community with mayor Sadiq Khan today to discuss ‘community relations'
Gideon Falter: ‘I being treated like a criminal for being Jewish'
More than 7,000 people sign petition calling for Sir Mark to be sacked
Who is Gideon Falter? Campaigner at centre of Palestine march antisemitism row
17:12 , Jabed Ahmed
Who is Gideon Falter? Campaigner at centre of Palestine march antisemitism row
Gideon Falter accused of ‘provoking’ incident to halt pro-Palestine protests
16:50 , Jabed Ahmed
Gideon Falter – along with former home secretary Suella Braverman – has led calls for Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to resign.
However the march organiser Ben Jamal, director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, has accused Mr Falter – who is chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) – of attending the march with a film crew to “provoke a confrontation”.
Read the full article here:
Gideon Falter accused of ‘provoking’ incident to halt pro-Palestine protests
Pictured: Children of Holocaust survivors at pro-Palestine demonstrations
16:20 , Jabed Ahmed
Children of Holocaust survivors disagree that the Met Police are enforcing a “Jew-free zone” during pro-Palestine marches.
Mark Etkind, the son of a Holocaust survivor, has shared photos of himself and four others standing unchallenged at the side of the march on 13 April, where an altercation ensured between Gideon Falter and a police officer.
“Gideon Falter has even claimed that central London was a ‘a police enforced Jew-free zone’ on that day. These claims are completely contradicted by the photograph,” Mr Etkind said.
“I, and other Holocaust survivor descendants, have been regularly attending these London protests with placards showing that we are ‘openly Jewish’.
“We have, so far, not experienced any antisemitism at all. Many others on the regular Jewish bloc have had similar experiences.
Holocaust survivors’ descendants deny Palestine marches are no-go zones for Jewish people
15:51 , Jabed Ahmed
Children of Holocaust survivors have hit back at claims the Metropolitan Police were enforcing a “Jew-free zone” during a pro-Palestine march in London - as they showed a photo of them standing unchallenged at the latest demonstration.
Mark Etkind, the son of a Holocaust survivor, has shared photos of himself and four others standing unchallenged at the side of the march on 13 April. As they were holding signs identifying them as the children of Holocaust survivors, Mr Etkind said this was evidence counter to the idea put forward by Mr Falter the police were allowing Palestine marches to spread antisemitism.
Read the full article here:
Holocaust survivors’ descendants deny Palestine marches are no-go zones for Jews
The incident ‘clearly wasn’t handled properly’, says shadow Home Secretary
14:45 , Jabed Ahmed
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has said it is “right” that the Metropolitan Police have apologised for the way officers treated antisemitism campaigner Gideon Falter.
Speaking to broadcasters at St George’s Park in Staffordshire on Monday, Ms Cooper said the incident “clearly wasn’t handled properly”.
She said: “It was wrongly handled and rightly there has been an apology from the Met for that. But I also think that the police work immensely hard every single day to keep us safe.
“The Met Commissioner is leading important reforms to the Metropolitan Police in London, and it’s really important that we work with the police to make sure that communities can be kept safe across the country.”
She added that Labour have also set out reforms that would rebuild the public’s confidence in policing, “which has been hit after 14 years of Conservative Government”.
Representatives of Jewish community meet with Sir Mark Rowley
14:30 , Jabed Ahmed
Representatives of Jewish community groups including the Community Security Trust (CST) and London Jewish Forum met with Sir Mark and Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist, who leads public order policing, this morning.
The CST said it would continue to push for a reduction in the number of pro-Palestine protests permitted in central London.
It released a statement following the meeting that said: “We will continue our dialogue with police later this week to express our concerns regarding the cumulative impact of the repeated anti-Israel protests in terms of disruption and intimidation of the Jewish community.
“We urge the police and Government to work together to find ways to limit this impact through reducing the number of protests, moving them to less disruptive locations and acting firmly and consistently whenever offences are committed by people on the demonstrations.”
Sir Mark to discuss protests with mayor Sadiq Khan and Jewish groups
14:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Sir Mark will meet members of London’s Jewish community and mayor Sadiq Khan today to discuss “community relations” following the force’s handing of the incident.
They are expected to speak to representatives of organisations including the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the London Jewish Forum and the Community Safety Trust.
He will also meet Home Secretary James Cleverly in the coming days.
Read the full article here:
Met Commissioner to discuss protests with mayor and Jewish groups
Gideon Falter: “The fault lies squarely with Sir Mark"
13:30 , Jabed Ahmed
Gideon Falter has said Sir Mark Rowley must resign and if he doesn’t, he should be removed by mayor Sadiq Khan and Home Secretary James Cleverly.
In a statement, Mr Falter said: “Some individuals have also been wheeled out to suggest that I provoked the crowd, or that there is somehow more to the story than it appears from the footage. A former Chief Superintendent has even outrageously suggested that I assaulted a police officer and should have been arrested. This has now gone far beyond victim blaming.
“These tactics are desperate, but they reveal the Met’s priorities. Therefore, at this point, it is not clear what any meetings with the Commissioner, who has the distinction of presiding over the worst surge in antisemitic hate crime on record, will achieve. It is time to hold him to account. The fault for this policing policy, which we have seen play out for half a year now on our streets, does not lie with frontline officers, including those with whom I interacted who have been put in an impossible position by the leadership. The fault lies squarely with Sir Mark. It is time for him to go, and if he does not resign, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and the Home Secretary, James Cleverly, should remove him from his post.”
Gideon Falter: ‘The Met’s response to this incident has been shambolic'
13:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Gideon Falter has renewed his criticism of the Met Police, claiming he has not been offered a meeting with Sir Mark Rowley as the commissioner has said.
Earlier today it was announced Sir Rowley and London mayor Sadiq Khan will meet members of London’s Jewish community, including the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the London Jewish Forum and the Community Safety Trust.
In a statement, Mr Falter said: “It is by now clear to everyone that the Met’s policing policy at these weekly anti-Israel marches represents the inverse of how policing should work. Police should be protecting those believed to be under threat, not threatening them with arrest to appease suspected violent racists.
“Since the incident, the Met has issued and withdrawn a series of statements, some apologetic and some belligerent. There have also been suggestions in the media that the Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has offered to meet with me. No such meeting has been offered, and any suggestion otherwise, if they came from the police, could have been a ploy by the Met, which is scrambling to save the Commissioner’s job.
“The Met’s response to this incident has been shambolic. Instead of meetings to try to contain the damage, it is extremely telling that the Met does not appear to have even started investigating the potential crimes that were committed by some of the protesters who surrounded me and which were caught on camera. The Met has certainly not been in touch with me about those.”
Former Met Police chief superintendent says he would have arrested Gideon Falter
12:39 , Jabed Ahmed
Former Met Chief Superintendent Dal Babu said if he had been policing the march he would have considered arresting the campaigner for “assault on a police officer and a breach of the peace”.
Mr Falter said in response: “I think it’s a pretty outrageous thing to say, I think it’s a pretty outrageous thing to be giving any credence to.”
“I was Jewish. I was crossing the street,” he told Sky News.
Mr Falter added: “I did not assault a police officer. How on Earth can anybody say that? I’m quite clearly in the video trying to continue to walk where I was going.”
The former commissioner said the video shows Mr Falter pushing policing officers “out of the way” which amounts to “common assault”.
He also defended the police, adding: “I think the police dealt with it and tried to be as sensitive as possible.
“I think the police officer was offering to take Mr Falter and his group to a place where they could cross more appropriately. Mr Falter was refusing to move and wanted to cross at that particular place against the march.”
Former Met Police chief superintendent says Mr Falter tried to ‘push’ past officers
11:51 , Jabed Ahmed
After watching a 13 minute-long video clip of the incident, former Met Police chief superintendent Dal Babu said the video was “very illuminating” and showed Mr Falter attempting to push past officers.
“You saw Mr. Falter put trying to push past, push police officers out of the way and that is a common assault. I think you are getting a more accurate picture of what was happening,” he told Sky News.
He said the police telling Mr Falter he was ‘openly Jewish’ was unacceptable.
“That phrase was unacceptable and police have apologised to Mr Falter quite rightly,” he added.
Watch: Sunak pledges support to Mark Rowley after 'openly jewish' Met Police comment
11:35 , Jabed Ahmed
Pro-Palestine march organiser accuses Gideon Falter of trying to ‘provoke’ an incident
11:22 , Jabed Ahmed
The director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has accused the Campaign Against Antisemitism of trying to “provoke” an incident to get the protests banned.
In a head to head with Gideon Falter on Sky News, PSC director Ben Jamal claimed Mr Falter had attended the march with a film crew to “provoke a confrontation”.
He told Sky’s Kay Burley: “The nature of the incident was not as Mr Falter has tried to portray it.
“The reality was he came to the march with an entourage of four to five people and film crew, sought to break through the stewards, physically pushes himself past the police in order to walk in front of the march to provoke and to try to stop it.”
He said the officer’s remarks to Mr Falter were “quite disgraceful”, but insisted the CAA is determined to get the pro-Palestine marches banned.
“Since the marches started they have tried to stop them, they have even called to bring the army on to the streets to stop the marches happening,” he added.
“Now they are using the tactic of coming to the marches trying to provoke an incident so that they can say there are scenes of disorder and therefore the marches should not go ahead.
“These are disgraceful antics. They should be shunned by anybody who believes in the right to protests and democratic freedoms.”
Responding, Mr Falter said: “I find that absolutely astonishing. I was not going to try to provoke something. What exactly does he think I’m trying to provoke by being openly Jewish?
“I was not there to counter protest. I was not there with film crews. I was simply Jewish in the vicinity of these marches.”
Suella Braverman admits she has not seen the whole video of the altercation between officers as Mr Falter
11:20 , Jabed Ahmed
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has faced backlash for calling for the resignation of the Met Police chief without having watched the full video of the incident involving Mr Falter.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning, Ms Braverman was asked: “You’ve called for the Met police chief to go. Can I ask, have you seen the whole video involving Gideon Falter?”
Ms Braverman replied: “I’ve seen clips of the video that have been published, but this is more about the last six months.”
When Ms Husain proposed that Ms Braverman’s comments were based on “incomplete information,” the politician responded: “The police have chosen a side.”
“I suggest you watch the whole video,” the presenter added.
Rishi Sunak says he has confidence in the Met Commissioner
10:57 , Jabed Ahmed
Rishi Sunak has expressed his confidence in under-fire Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley after an officer referred to an antisemitism campaigner as “openly Jewish” and threatened him with arrest.
Mr Sunak refused over the weekend to back Sir Mark, who former home secretary Suella Braverman has said should quit.
But on Monday the PM told a Downing Street press conference: “I share the shock and the anger that many are feeling when they saw the clips over the weekend.
“And you know what I would say about Mark Rowley and the police, they do have a difficult job, of course I appreciate that.
“But what happened was clearly wrong. And it’s right that they’ve apologised for that.
“And yes, I do have confidence in him, but that’s on the basis that he works to rebuild the confidence and trust of not just the Jewish community, but the wider public, particularly people in London but more broadly.
“And you regain that trust and that confidence by making it clear that the police are not tolerating behaviour that we would all collectively deem unacceptable when we see it because it undermines our values. And I think that is critical. And I know the Home Secretary will be meeting the commissioner later today.”
The exchange between Gideon Falter and police officers at the pro-Palestine march
10:32 , Jabed Ahmed
A 13-minute video of the exchanges between Mr Falter and police officers was published by Sky News.
The footage of the exchange shows Mr Falter telling police he wants to cross a road to reach Kingsway in central London as crowds of pro-Palestine protesters pass.
He tells one officer: “The Metropolitan Police says that these marches are completely safe for Jews, there is no problem whatsoever.
“You are telling me that I cannot walk to the other pavement. That I have to be escorted by you.”
The officer said: “I am telling you that I will help you by escorting you over there and that way you will be completely safe just as we promised, so we are keeping our word.”
Sadiq Khan: Met’s handling of the incident is “concerning”
10:17 , Jabed Ahmed
A spokesman for Mr Khan said the Met’s handling of the incident was “concerning” and its initial statement had been “insensitive and wrong”.
The spokesman added: “The Met have an extremely difficult job – particularly so when it comes to operational decisions taken while policing marches.
“But in the end the Met must have the confidence of the communities they serve and it is right that they have apologised for the way the incident was handled and their original public response.”
Rishi Sunak ‘appalled’ at Met over ‘openly Jewish’ remark
10:14 , Jabed Ahmed
Rishi Sunak is “appalled” at the Metropolitan Police’s handling of the incident and will hold the Met commissioner to account.
A government source said: “The PM has seen the footage and is as appalled as everyone else by the officer calling Mr Falter ‘openly Jewish’.
“He 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.”
Watch: Suella Braverman calls Mark Rowley to resign
10:06 , Jabed Ahmed
Board of Deputies of British Jews President is not yet calling for the Commissioner’s resignation
10:03 , Jabed Ahmed
Ahead of a meeting with Sir Mark today, Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said she is not yet calling for the Commissioner’s resignation, but some serious incidents are causing the Jewish community to have a “complete loss of confidence in the police”.
She told Times Radio: “Historically, the Jewish community has always had a very good relationship with the police and I think it’s really important that we do so going forward.
“And the responsible thing to do is to put our concerns, and they have been widely, widely publicised. And it’s up to the police now to be able to tell us what they’re going to be able to do.
“And if the police feel that they need more legislation, then that’s also a matter for the Government and the Home Secretary.”
Sir Mark to discuss protests with mayor Sadiq Khan and Jewish groups
10:00 , Jabed Ahmed
Sir Mark will meet members of London’s Jewish community and mayor Sadiq Khan today to discuss “community relations” following the force’s handing of the incident.
They are expected to speak to representatives of organisations including the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the London Jewish Forum and the Community Safety Trust.
He will also meet Home Secretary James Cleverly in the coming days.
Read the full article here:
Met Commissioner to discuss protests with mayor and Jewish groups
Met Police response to Gideon Falter was ‘way over the top’, government minister says
09:54 , Jabed Ahmed
Deputy Foreign Secretary Andrew Mitchell said the Metropolitan Police’s response to Gideon Falter was “way over the top”.
He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I think the police do a difficult job, so I’m not looking to point the finger at individual police officers.
“But I do think that threatening to arrest him was way over the top and outrageous, and I’m very pleased that the police have apologised multiple times for that error.”
He said the future of Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is a matter for the Home Secretary but “I don’t, myself, think it’s very helpful to call for his resignation”.
Suella Braverman: The Met Police have ‘chosen a side’ by failing to curb antisemitic violence
09:51 , Jabed Ahmed
Suella Braverman said the Metropolitan Police have “chosen a side” and failed to curb risks of antisemitic violence arising from pro-Palestinian marches following the threatened arrest of an antisemitism campaigner trying to cross the road at the same time as a protest.
Ms Braverman, who was sacked as home secretary in November after a series of controversial comments, including accusing the police of bias over their handling of pro-Palestinian “hate marchers”, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there had been a “wholesale failure” by the force to “combat antisemitism and to maintain the peace on the streets of London over the past six months”.
Urging the police to ban marches which posed a “risk of antisemitic violence”, she added: “What this video shows, and what this incident demonstrates, is that the police have failed to strike the right balance of competing rights.”
“At this point in time there is unprecedented antisemitism on our streets, there is disproportionate police resourcing being deployed to police these marches and the police have chosen a side,” she added.
Ms Braverman urged the police to be tougher on pro-Palestinian protesters, who she said were “in large part communicating antisemitic slogans, waving antisemitic placards, intimidating and harassing”.
Gideon Falter says he will join next pro-Palestinian march despite ‘openly Jewish’ comments
09:47 , Jabed Ahmed
Gideon Falter, chief executive of the CAA said he would turn up at the next pro-Palestinian march and encouraged other Jews and allies to join him.
Mr Falter told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “It’s not, for me, about these frontline officers. It’s about the decisions that have been made for six months now by Sir Mark Rowley, who has failed abjectly to stand up for Jewish Londoners and he seems to have thrown our rights, he’s curtailed our rights and our ability to walk around the street, in favour of letting these huge groups of protesters do what they want to do.”
Ahead of the next march on Saturday, Mr Falter said: “After this all happened, I felt it’s actually very important that Jews feel that they can walk the streets.”
His campaign has launched a “walk together” initiative to follow the route of the march and “force the police to make sure that these things are safe for Jewish people”.
“We’ve been gaslit, essentially, for months now by the Met, because the Met keeps saying ‘these things are safe, nothing to worry about, they’re brilliantly policed’, and the reality is that’s not true and it’s 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.
“And one of the things I just cannot understand is, with this whole situation, where is the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and where is the Home Secretary James Cleverly in all this?”
Met Police officers had not been ‘as well led as they should be’, government minister says
09:44 , Jabed Ahmed
Government minister Andrew Mitchell suggested Met Police officers had not been “as well led as they should be”.
The deputy foreign secretary told Times Radio: “I don’t have any criticism of the police officers who are doing an extremely difficult job on the ground and trying to police these marches.
“But I don’t think necessarily they’re being as well led as they should be.
“And that’s why it’s not so much the tactical approach as the strategic approach to the way these marches are dealt with that needs to be held to account.”
He added: “That is a matter for the Metropolitan Police Commission to explain: The way in which he is leading his police, the way in which he is conducting the policing of these marches and that’s something the Home Secretary, I know, will be following up.”
Home Secretary James Cleverly will hold Sir Mark to account
09:42 , Jabed Ahmed
Deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell said Home Secretary James Cleverly would hold Sir Mark Rowley to account for the way pro-Palestine protests have been handled.
Mr Mitchell told Sky News: “I think it was an appalling episode and the Home Secretary will undoubtedly hold Sir Mark, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, to account for what happened.
“I think the police do an incredibly difficult job on these occasions, so I am not criticising the bobby on the beat who was policing the demonstration.
“But I think there are strategic issues… how we ensure that Jewish people, people of any faith at all, can go about their business in London and not be impeded in the way that he was and not be stopped from walking through the streets of London because of the demonstrations that were taking place.
“That’s a strategic issue and it needs to be resolved by the police.”
More than 7,000 people sign petition calling for Sir Mark ‘to go’
09:39 , Jabed Ahmed
More than 7,400 people have signed a petition calling for Sir Mark “to go” launched by the Campaign Against Semitism, whose chief executive Gideon Falter was the campaigner at the centre of the incident.
Mr Falter said he accepted the assistant commissioner’s apology for the original Met statement but insists he needs to stand down.
Both Mr Falter and former home secretary Suella Braverman have called for Sir Mark to resign, saying he has “emboldened” antisemites by failing to curtail the marches.
Ahead of a meeting with Sir Mark this week, Marie van der Zyl, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said she is not yet calling for the Commissioner’s resignation, but some serious incidents are causing the Jewish community to have a “complete loss of confidence in the police”.
Gideon Falter: ‘I being treated like a criminal for being Jewish'
09:38 , Jabed Ahmed
Gideon Falter, the chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), who was told he would be arrested if he did not leave the vicinity of a Gaza protest, said he feels like he “being treated like a criminal for being Jewish”.
Welcome to our live coverage
09:32 , Jabed Ahmed
Welcome to our live coverage.
The Met Police commissioner faces calls to quit over his forces handling of pro-Palestinian protests after an officer was filmed describing an antisemitism campaigner as “openly Jewish”.
Sir Mark Rowley will meet members of London’s Jewish community with mayor Sadiq Khan today to discuss “community relations”, and is expected to speak to representatives of organisations including the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the London Jewish Forum and the Community Safety Trust.
Follow here for all the latest updates.
