Police accused of ignoring criminality at JW3 protest

The Metropolitan Police have been accused of failing to combat open criminality during an anti-Israel demonstration at JW3 in north London, sparking fresh outrage over how the police has handled Palestine protests.

Acting for a local resident, top criminal barrister Jeremy Dein KC has written to the Met to question its response to the October 27 protest, when a Haaretz conference at the West Hampstead Jewish cultural centre was besieged by demonstrators, reducing Jewish attendees to tears.

In a scathing 17-page letter seen by the JC, Dein outlined “substantial and extensive grounds” for police intervention, alleging that multiple offences were committed outside JW3 in clear view of the police, including race-based harassment and breaches of the Public Order and Terrorism Acts.

Between 50 and 150 demonstrators, many masked, chanted slogans such as “baby killers not welcome here” outside the conference. At least one elderly woman openly wept and the noise disrupted the pro-peace event. After being instructed by a resident who attended a pro-Israel counter-protest, Dein suggests that a “mob-like atmosphere” outside JW3 could have been avoided if the police had enforced the law. The Community Security Trust (CST) welcomed the KC’s intervention, describing the protest as “an appalling example of hatred and abuse”.

A spokesperson for the CST said they believed that multiple offences had been committed at the protest and urged the Met to launch a full investigation.

In his letter, the barrister accused the Met of ignoring the concerns of the public and exacerbating their trauma by treating victims more harshly than alleged perpetrators. He argued that officers prioritised the demonstrators’ rights over the safety of JW3 attendees, leaving the Jewish community vulnerable.

He accused the force of being “ill-equipped” to distinguish between legitimate protest and criminal behaviour.

“Police were confronted on the one hand with an innocent group of people seeking to go about their business in an entirely legitimate fashion, whilst on the other having to grapple with an aggressive and intimidating group, purporting to be peacefully protesting,” he wrote.

“There was clear, repeated, diverse, and fundamental infringement of the Jewish public’s business.”

He claimed that demonstrations “far exceeded what can objectively be described as peaceful, legitimate protest”.

The barrister warned that such incidents are becoming a “vivid marker” of a growing trend at protests that puts the public at risk and he called for urgent police action to ensure offenders face justice.

“Those who ostensibly support terrorism [should not be] allowed to behave with impunity,” Dein wrote.

He claimed several chants at the protest were illegal in the context of JW3, including “there is only one solution, intifada revolution”. He alleged that “intifada” is associated with the Palestinian uprising that left hundreds dead, and the word “solution” could be linked to Adolf Hitler’s “final solution”.

Outside JW3, this chant – accompanied with drumming and pointing at Jewish attendees – created a “mob-like atmosphere” which breached the Public Order Act, according to Dein.

“There should at least have been arrests and/or the taking of details with a view to prosecution,” he wrote.

Another chant, “Yemen, Yemen, make us proud, turn another ship around,” was also flagged by Dein as abusive, threatening, and potentially in breach of the Terrorism Act, denoting support for the Houthis, a proscribed Iranian militia.

Activist Tom Mummery was seen agitating at the demonstration while dressed in a surgical gown, the Times reported at the time. He was separately filmed apparently calling people “fascists” inside a Jewish bakery in St John’s Wood and reportedly lost his role as an independent sales consultant for a skincare clinic over the incident.

Mummery was filmed at another protest in June near Chalk Farm calling a woman a “white supremacist” and “white terrorist”, according to the Times.

The newspaper also highlighted a television interview when Mummery defended the Hamas October 7 attack as “inevitable”, commenting “it wasn’t a case of if, it was a case of when”. He added: “How could you not?”

In another clip, he said: “You forced three million people into a concentration camp and then play victim when they dare to resist, which is legal under international law.”

In response to the Times, Mummery said that he was “neither a key player, nor an organiser” in the protests. He said it was “not our position” to justify the October 7 attack or support Hamas, and he only believed Palestinians “have the right to resist their occupation”. During another filmed incident outside JW3, also reported by the Times, activist Ibrahim Essad used a microphone to shout, “Shame on you with your crocodile tears” while pointing at a visibly distressed Jewish woman.

In a video shared on social media, Essad shouted “Shame, shame, shame” at a woman who sought help from a nearby police officer.

Speaking into camera, Essad asked: “How many children were killed today?”

In his letter, Dein claimed that the officer at the scene did not intervene to protect the Jewish woman, who was visibly distressed, nor did he take any steps to prohibit or dissuade the protesters.

“It is not by any means clear whether the female was a conference attendee, but either way, she was targeted on the basis of being amongst the Jewish public,” Dein alleged.

The KC accused the officer of choosing to restrain the victim rather than the alleged culprit, which he claimed “exacerbated her trauma”. This was, according to the barrister, “symptomatic of an absence of protection for the Jewish public on the day,” and violated several provisions of the Public Order Act, he claimed.

Dein wrote about several posts on social media allegedly made by protesters at JW3 .

According to Dein, who cited a video from the protest, Mohammed Dahlan – who has been reported by the Telegraph for posting on a now deleted X account that Hamas leader Yayha Sinwar was a “martyr” – also attended the JW3 demonstration. The Telegraph claimed that Dahlan was reported to the police when he posted “killing Zionists is an act of worship”, and was suspended from his job as a teacher at an independent school in south-west London following the posts.

These social media posts appeared to suggest that the “intimidating” nature of the protest could have been pre-planned, Dein claimed.

The KC’s intervention follows months of frustration from local residents, one of whom turned to lawyers after feeling ignored by the police.

The anonymous resident contacted solicitors at Woolf Law when officers reportedly dismissed the protesters’ actions as non-criminal. A letter outlining the alleged offences was sent to Chief Inspector Adam Instone at the Met days after the protest but, as he waited weeks for a response from the force, the resident instructed Dein.

“I was concerned the force were not taking the case seriously,” the resident explained.

In an eventual response to Woolf Law, the force said two crime reports were being investigated.

But the resident worries that protesters will continue to organise around Jewish buildings.

“I fear that a culture of impunity to antisemitism in the police force has emerged – they are not taking complaints seriously,” the resident added, fearing that it could set a precedent. “It’s more important than ever that authorities act decisively.

“There were multiple police failures. The Met failed to protect Jewish residents and our community centre and was slow to investigate. The people present were agitators of the Jewish community, people who have repeatedly targeted Jews, yet the Met let them get away with it.”

Other witnesses agreed. One noted: “The Met lets the pro-Palestinian side get away with a lot of things that would not be acceptable on other protests.

“Maybe it is because there are so many of them.” The conference attendee, who claimed to have seen protesters doing Hitler salutes and throat-cutting signs at other rallies, and who was called a “baby killer” when she entered JW3, added: “It would be good if the police realised that they need to be more proactive in this situation when they knew there is a Jewish event.

“When I arrived there was a substantial, aggressive group of protesters and only two officers.

“I would have expected more from the police and wish they had called for reinforcements quicker.”

A separate witness, who lives above JW3 and called the police when the protest started, described the chaos. “I was terrified and shaking. The protesters were coming from all directions... making a dreadful noise. There is no way I could have gone about my day.”

The police arrived shortly after the demonstrators, but the local woman accused an officer of treating her “dismissively, like I was the perpetrator”, when she asked them to stop the protesters’ “aggressive” chants. Weeks later, the Met asked the resident to give evidence but apparently never recorded her statement.

According to the resident, several of the alleged offences have been escalated to the Crown Prosecution Service but she says that she still has crucial evidence that the police have not heard.

Dein’s letter comes after Mayor of London Sadiq Khan admitted at People’s Question Time on December 12 that Jewish people are “living in fear” in his city before claiming “the police have done a very good job” protecting them. In London, the police have actually done a very good job providing reassurance to Jewish communities,” he said.

But former Tory home secretary Suella Braverman slammed Khan for the force’s failings. “The disgusting and shocking displays of antisemitism that riddled this shameful protest must be fully investigated by the Met,” she said.

The government’s independent adviser on political violence and disruption, Lord Walney said: “This evidence sets out clearly where crimes may have occurred.”

“To maintain public trust officers should always acknowledge and seek to correct mistakes where evidence shows judgements on the ground were not correct,” he said.

Former Conservative minister Lord Pickles accused the force of failing to uphold the law.

“The police must get out of the mindset that they are there to manage order, they are there to uphold the law,” he said.

“JW3 is a vital part of the Jewish community, and we cannot have a situation where it is effectively closed down by protesters,” he added.

Meanwhile, ex-Labour MP and independent peer Lord Austin said: “I hope the Met takes this advice seriously and uses it to inform future decisions. What happened at JW3 was a failure to uphold the law and protect the Jewish community.”

JW3 CEO Raymond Simonson said at the time: “I condemn all intimidation and harassment directed at the attendees, speakers and volunteers of this conference.

“I am really pleased though that the disgusting behaviour outside did not stop the critical conversations that took place inside, and that will continue across the community.”

A spokesperson for the Met told the JC that the force deployed local officers as soon as it was aware of the protest, before calling additional resources from across London.

“Despite this, we understand that the protesters’ presence and behaviour directly outside the entrance caused disruption and intimidation for some people arriving at and passing by the venue.

“Officers maintained contact with JW3 staff to fully understand the impact, and we imposed conditions requiring protesters to move to the opposite side of the road, which helped minimise the disruption at the venue’s entrance. One person was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

“While we respect the right to peaceful protest, we also take necessary measures to prevent serious disruption to communities and intimidation and will make arrests if protesters’ actions constitute an offence.”

The JC has approached Essad, Mummery and Dahlan for comment.