Sadiq Khan condemns ‘hateful, intimidating, racist language’ at anti-Israel demo
London mayor tells Jewish News, "It is unacceptable to incite anti-Jewish hatred" after men in Saddam Hussein t-shirts chant about killing Jews at London rally.
Justin Cohen is the News Editor at the Jewish News
Sadiq Khan has expressed “deep concern” after demonstrators at yesterday’s protest against Israel’s anti-terror operation were filmed making antisemitic chants.
Men sported t-shorts with images of Saddam Hussein were heard chanting “Khayber Khayber Ya Yehud jaish Mohammad Sauf Ya’ud” (“Khayber Khaybar oh Jews, Mohammad’s army is returning”) – a reference to the killing of Jews.
Jewish News also reported the presence of banners equating Zionism and Nazism – in contravention of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, while an Israeli reporter filmed a protestor claiming “Zionists” were behind the 9/11 attacks.
Khan told Jewish News: “I am deeply concerned about reports of hateful, intimidating and racist language being used on marches and social media this weekend. It is unacceptable to incite anti-Jewish or anti-Muslim hatred. This must stop now.
“Let me be clear – racial hatred and persecution in all its forms are abhorrent and have no place in our city. The police have my full backing for a zero-tolerance approach to tackling it. We must stop these vile attacks.”
Organisers claimed 100,000 people gathered for the demo in central London from Marble Arch to Israel’s embassy. While the majority protested without resorting to racism, community leaders have called for action against those who did.
The march came five days after the IDF launched an operation to stop hundreds of Hamas rockets attacks on civilians which has forced Israelis across the country to run for shelter. Ten Israelis and more than 150 Palestinians, a large number of them terrorists, have died.
According to the CST, the last week has seen a 250 percent rise in antisemitic incidents in the U.K. a similar rise has been seen in other countries.
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