CPS told Jews who faced alleged Nazi salutes that they weren’t victims
The CPS only changed course after two Jewish people, aged 29 and 69, hired lawyers and initiated a judicial review process
The Crown Prosecution Service is facing further questions about its treatment of cases involving antisemitism, after revelations that it declined to prosecute a case where Jews were subjected to Nazi salutes, only agreeing to review the decision after two of those targeted applied for a judicial review.
As reported by The Telegraph, the CPS had declined to take forward an incident which took place last October outside the JW3 Jewish community centre in North West London, where a 29-year old man and 69-year old woman alleged they had been targeted. Pro-Palestinian protestors had gathered to picket a conference held by liberal Zionists highly critical of the actions of the Israeli government.
The man and woman had provided witness statements to the police, who had subsequently referred the case to the CPS. When the latter declined to prosecute, the police encouraged the pair to challenge the decision via the Victims Right to Review, (VRR) scheme, the Telegraph said.
However, the CPS then informed them that it did not consider them to be “victims” and therefore they would not be able to contest the decision via this route. Only after lawyers were instructed and judicial review proceedings initiated did the CPS say that a mistake had been made, accepting that the pair were victims and had every right to use the VRR scheme. The CPS is also reviewing its original decision not to prosecute.
In a dossier published last week by The Telegraph, Jewish community groups set out scores of incidents from pro-Palestinian protestors, including activists calling for “Zionists” and “Jews” to be killed, harassing Jewish people and blocking their way as they attempted to enter a Synagogue. Many such incidents, they said, had been reported to the police, but subsequently dropped by the CPS.
The Jewish community’s level of trust in the CPS plummeted several years ago after an incident where a convoy of cars waving Palestinian flags drove through North London neighbourhoods with large Jewish populations. One of the cars had a loudspeaker, and caught on camera was the call “f*** the Jews…rape their daughters”. The CPS went on to drop charges against all four of the people in the car.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Obviously this is appalling. At CAA we know all too well that it takes this kind of pressure to galvanise the authorities into action – the sort of action that they should be taking without a second thought. No wonder our representative polling shows that only a minuscule ten percent of British Jews think that the CPS does enough to protect them.
“The fight against antisemitism in Britain would be a lot less challenging if police chiefs and prosecutors actually joined it.”
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