How was this allowed? Fury as anti-Zionist mob targets St John’s Wood synagogue
'It cannot be that in modern Britain it is seen as acceptable to protest outside a place of worship and beam hateful messages, where Jews come together to pray'
Jewish community groups have reacted with barely concealed anger after ‘anti-Zionist’ protestors were permitted to rally outside St John’s Wood synagogue on Sunday evening, with some thanking the police for their support while others questioned why the Met was unable to prevent the demonstration from taking place altogether.
The protest outside the synagogue was supposedly in response to a series of pro-Israel events taking place on Sunday, including an aliyah fair – which provides advice and guidance to Jewish people considering emigrating to Israel. Led by two groups: “Jewish Anti-Zionist Action” and “Palestine Pulse”, the protestors chanted calls for the complete destruction of Israel (including “from the water to the water, Palestine is Arab” in Arabic), as well as calling for destruction of “f***ing Zionism”.
The Metropolitan police had responded by saying that “there is no legal mechanism to ban the protest from taking place”, but that Public Order Act conditions had been imposed to prevent protestors entering a specific section of the area in the immediate vicinity of the Synagogue.
However, pro-Palestinian protesters conspicuously failed to abide by the conditions in question. In one video posted on social media, the anti-Zionist protesters can be seen protesting in an area which the police had specifically specified as off-limits. When questioned about their presence, a police officer confirmed that conditions were in place and that the anti-Zionists were not supposed to be there, “but we don’t want to antagonise the situation”. Subsequently, anti-Zionist protesters who had breached the conditions set out by police shone the message “stolen land sold here” onto the synagogue itself.” Inversely, some members of the synagogue were halted by the police and unable to access the site to pray.
Saul Taylor, president of the United Synagogue, said: “It cannot be that in modern Britain it is seen as acceptable to protest outside a place of worship, where Jews come together to pray and to attend community events.
“I commend the police for their swift action in putting in place and implementing the exclusion zone and thank the CST as ever for their support.”
He asked the protestors to consider “the appropriateness of targeting our buildings and Jews who simply want to attend a synagogue and Jewish community centre.”
Andrew Gilbert, vice president of the Board of Deputies, said: “It is obnoxious with a strong whiff of antisemitism to demonstrate outside a synagogue. Our community stood up with a counter-protest from STH (Stop the Hate), CST worked on policing.
“We at the BoD and others were clear that conditions were required. This sets a baseline of expectation. We will continue to discuss with police and government if there are any further attempts to repeat.”
Earlier this year the government announced draft legislation which would prevent protestors demonstrating outside places of worship, including synagogues. However, this has not yet been properly considered by Parliament.
Stop the Hate pointed out an apparent disparity in police response between Sunday night’s protest and an attempted protest in Tower Hamlets last month.
“The difference in language used by Met police when UKIP were going to protest in Tower Hamlets: ‘Concerns of serious disorder have prompted the Metropolitan Police to intervene and prevent a demonstration from taking place in Tower Hamlets this weekend.’
“When Pal Pulse protest in St John’s Wood Synagogue: ‘There is no legal mechanism to ban the protest from taking place, however we have used Public Order Act conditions to prevent disorder and disruption.’ Is this policing equally? What is the reason for the difference?”
Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The targeting of a synagogue today by pro-Palestine activists – who protested outside a north London shul and projected offensive language onto the building – demonstrates the total failure of policing policy. Not only have police chiefs abysmally failed to combat antisemitism over the past two years and midwifed an explosion of extremism in our country, but they cannot even protect Jewish institutions in Jewish neighbourhoods from the mob.”
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