Scotland Yard draft in 1,000 officers ahead of pro-Palestine rally in London
SCOTLAND Yard has drafted in 1,000 officers ahead of a pro-Palestine rally in London today.
Thousands are expected to march on Whitehall and Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lawrence Taylor warned: “We will not tolerate any celebration of terrorism or deaths.”
He said that between September 30 and the end of Thursday, there were 105 anti-Semitic incidents in London — compared with just 14 at the same time last year.
There were 75 criminal offences against the Jewish community in the past fortnight and 12 in the same period in 2022.
They included threats, graffiti and German military music being played outside synagogues.
Three North London Jewish schools have been forced to close and Mr Taylor says there is “huge concern from Jewish communities”.
He stressed: “We will not tolerate hate crime or inciting violence.”
The Met is visiting all 300 synagogues in the capital and have also been to mosques, after a comparatively smaller rise in Islamophobia incidents over the last week.
Mr Taylor said police were unable to prevent anyone flying a Palestine flag as it is not against the law but would do so if it was being used to deliberately cause fear or anguish.
He conceded it was a “really tricky” issue for police and revealed the Met was taking advice from the Attorney-general and CPS on what could constitute an offence.
“Our job is to police this as appropriately as we can, recognising emotions and applying the law without bias,” he added.
Anti-Israel protests — inlcuding a vast demo in Iraq capital Baghdad — were held on a so-called day of jihad yesterday.