Met Police officer makes excuses for swastikas at pro-Palestine march

A Metropolitan Police officer has been captured on camera telling a Jewish woman who raised concerns about swastikas displayed during a pro-Palestine march that the Nazi symbol may not be antisemitic.

Video footage widely circulated online shows the woman confronting officers during Saturday’s march, expressing disbelief over the presence of the Nazi symbol. She is informed by one officer that under UK law a swastika may not necessarily be interpreted as anti-Jewish or a disturbance of public order.

The woman asks: ‘If someone is carrying a sign with a swastika, you said you wouldn’t arrest them on the spot, it would have to be investigated online?”

An officer interrupts to say: “A swastika on its own, I don’t think is…”

Another officer then claims “everything needs to be taken in context” despite the obscene Nazi symbol being paraded the pro-Palestine march in the context of the Zionists and the Israel-Hamas war.

During the video, one officer attempts to explain the provisions of the Public Order Act and the legal framework guiding their actions, but the woman interjects, pointing out: “A swastika is a swastika!”

Undeterred, the officer continues: ‘There are various  facets to the Public Order Act. We’re working under things called Section 5 of the Public Order Act and Section 4A of the Public Order Act. They are some of the primary legislation we’re using, right. If you go away and look at that and it’s all about if it’s something likely to cause vast alarm and distress if it is written words or there’s spoken words that are abusive.”

The woman then interrupts: “So under what context is a swastika not disrupting public order?”

The officer answers: “I haven’t said anything about it that it is or it isn’t. Everything needs to be taken in context doesn’t it?”

The person filming interrupts to say: “Yeah but it’s a context of a hateful march.”

Jewish News editor Richard Ferrer discussing the policing of swastikas on our streets

And the Jewish woman adds: “Why does a swastika need context?”

She adds: “Why is a swastika not immediately antisemitism? Why does it need context? This is what I’m confused about. This isn’t even about Israel. In what context is a swastika not antisemitic and disruptive to public order? That is my question.”