London police failing to protect Jews, says UK’s Chief Rabbi

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Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis wants them to stop an antisemitic march from starting near two major synagogues next month.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has charged that the police were failing to protect the Jewish community in allowing an antisemitic march to begin near two major synagogues next month.

“The Metropolitan Police are responsible for upholding the right to peaceful protest, and for ensuring that Jewish Londoners feel safe,” the rabbi said.

“There can be no justification for not making a clear commitment that the routes of pro-Palestinian marches will not come anywhere close to local synagogues.”

“It is hard to see the absence of such a commitment as anything other than a failure of the Met’s duty to members of Jewish communities who no longer feel safe walking to and from their synagogues on the Sabbath,” he added.

The route of the Saturday January 18 Palestine Solidarity Campaign march has been known for months.

It is starting in front of BBC headquarters in order to protest its alleged pro-Israel bias, although most Jews have contended that the exact opposite is the case.

This gathering point is very close to two Orthodox congregations — Central Synagogue and Western Marble Arch.

A major Reform synagogue is also in the vicinity, as are two Chabad places of worship.

Mark Gardner, head of the Community Security Trust (CST), whose stated mission is to provide safety, security and advice to UK Jewry, also blasted the authorities.

“We have repeatedly stated that these protests should be kept away from synagogues, especially on the Sabbath,” he said, noting the hateful chants often heard at such anti-Israel demonstrations, such as calls for a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea” and for “global intifada.”

CST has complained before of “two-tier policing,” with the authorities not protecting Jewish communities as they do others.

Western Marble Arch Rabbi Daniel Epstein told local outlet Jewish News that “We have had many conversations with the Met where we believed they were taking our concerns into account, but nothing seems to have changed.”

“People are afraid to come” to synagogue, Epstein said, “and for our family, Shabbat afternoon walks are out.”

The Metropolitan police said in response that the plans for the route are not yet final and that they are “working to address concerns raised by members of the Jewish community.”

Its spokesperson also acknowledged that the almost weekly anti-Israel demonstrations since the Hamas invasion and massacre of October 7, 2023 sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, which have often been attended by thousands and descended in part to violence or threats of violence against Jewish-looking passersby, has taken a toll on the community.

“We know the cumulative impact of more than a year of regular protest on London’s Jewish communities has been significant,” the spokesperson said.

The Met “have been able to use our powers more extensively than ever before to impose conditions on planned protest,” the spokesperson added, and after hearing all sides, they will announce what, if any, conditions they will impose this time.

Rabbi Epstein noted that by their nature, such anti-Israel protests violated the right of the Jewish community to freely practice its religion.

If there are thousands of attendees, they will naturally spill over the nearby streets, and synagogue-goers will be too frightened to pass through crowds of those calling for Israel’s destruction in order to pray in the quorum mandated by Jewish law.