London’s police force has been forced to issue two apologies after officers threatened to arrest an “openly Jewish” man if he refused to leave the area around a pro-Palestinian march because his presence risked provoking the demonstrators.
Gideon Falter, chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, was wearing a traditional Jewish skullcap when he was stopped by police while trying to cross a street in central London as demonstrators filed past on April 13.
One officer told Falter he was worried that the man’s “quite openly Jewish” appearance could provoke a reaction from the protesters, according to video posted by the campaign group. A second officer then told Falter he would be arrested if he refused to be escorted out of the area because he was “causing a breach of the peace.”
This last paragraph, along with Falter’s position, makes me very suspicious about the thrust NBC News is giving this story:
I am Jewish. I look very Jewish. I could certainly see me being harassed by bigoted cops for it. But this is really suspicious.
Pretty sure I saw clips of this guy, he very clearly was going out looking to antagnonise people. This isn’t America.
I think it’s clear from his statement he was going out to antagonize. “If an angry mob forms behind me, that’s not my fault.” What bullshit.
I think he was pretty clearly there with the intent of his presence being antagonistic. He’s not just a random Jewish man who coincidentally happened to be walking through the area at that particular time, he’s a pro-Israeli activist who was hoping his presence would provoke a reaction as part of an attempt by political partisans to paint mainstream pro-Palestinian protestors as racist.
But - regardless of his intent - if the only reason the Met could point to for them believing his presence might have actually been antagonistic is his ethnicity and his religion, then on the surface he hasn’t done anything wrong.
I think this episode should be read in the context of a wide-ranging assault on free speech and the right to protest by the current Conservative government, which is encouraging a pattern of overreach by the Met police in response to legitimate protest.
Safe bet there were Jewish people marching for Palestine as well, they just don’t want to mention that
The officer mentioned in the full video that Falter had been walking directly against the protest and wasn’t just trying to cross the road like he claimed. Which, “openly Jewish” or not, is a good reason to stop him, I think - for his own safety and the safety of the people in the march. And coupled with the fact that he very visibly is Jewish, it makes his actions seem a lot like a counter-protest - something the police generally try to limit or contain regardless of the protest subject.
The police officer had the patience of a saint, honestly. He offered to escort Falter to the place he wanted to go via a different route - so as to avoid the protest - probably around a dozen times. It’s very clear Falter didn’t really have any intention of getting to his claimed destination.
I fully agree, but again: that’s not illegal.
I feel bad for cops sometimes, honestly. Trying to de-escalate a confrontation proactively is exactly the alternative to busting heads most of us want to see, but preemptively arresting someone when no crime has been committed isn’t legal. Yeah, their hunch was probably correct that the guy was going to go stir shit up, but until he does they have no right to detain him.
The solution is that they should learn from actual deescalators. A lot of protests I see now have folks in safety vests who cool things off and separate people when someone tries to stir up conflict. But I think it takes an emotional tool kit that isn’t currently common within police training.
The police didn’t actually arrest him, and I think the headline is a little misleading. Falter had been walking directly against the protest (and not attempting to cross the road like he claimed). The police stopped him and offered to escort him to his destination via a route that avoided the march. Falter refused and tried to push through the police officers and cross the protest march. The officers prevented him and told him he was free to go in the opposite direction, or that they would escort him past the protest, but that if he tried to go the way he was they would have to arrest him. It was clear they didn’t want to arrest him, and the officer offered probably a dozen times over the course of the ~15-minute interaction to escort him via a different route.
I think the officer did a good job of de-escalating, personally, and was incredibly patient in the face of Falter’s obnoxious, disingenuous antagonism. It’s a shame that there’s a single soundbite that, when stripped of context, portrays the officer poorly, but I think it’s clear to anyone watching the full video that the officer had no anti-semitic intent and handled the situation well.
Yup.
"Babu added: “They offered to take him to a crossing point, they offered to help him and the group he was with the opportunity to cross at a more appropriate place. So the narrative that’s been pushed for the past few days is not accurate.
“Personally, if I was policing that march, I would have been inclined to have arrested [Falter] for assault on a police officer and breach of the peace.”"
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/22/initial-story-about-openly-jewish-incident-not-full-picture-says-ex-senior-met-officer
next time i go to london, i should be careful where i get a bagel and a schmear!
Beigel Bake on Brick Lane.