Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis has accused the Metropolitan Police of failing to ensure British Jews feel safe after the force permitted pro-Palestinian protests to take place near London synagogues.
Speaking to The Times, the spiritual leader of central Orthodoxy in Britain said the Met had failed in its duty to keep the Jewish community safe by allowing a forthcoming demonstration to occur near two synagogues under his jurisdiction, Western Marble Arch and Central, on Saturday, January 18.
He spoke out after months of talks with the force failed to achieve an assurance that protests would not come close to local synagogues. Talks are ongoing, but Rabbi Mirvis said the Met's current stance is inadequate and especially disappointing as the protest is set to be held on a Saturday when many will be going to synagogue.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) chose the route in order to rally outside the BBC’s headquarters at Broadcasting House in Portland Place in protest at the broadcaster’s coverage of the war in Gaza.
One of the synagogues, Central, is a couple of streets away from Portland Place. Besides Western Marble Arch, also in the vicinity is the country’s oldest Reform Synagogue, West London.
Rabbi Mirvis said: “The Metropolitan Police are responsible… for upholding the right to peaceful protest and for ensuring that Jewish Londoners feel safe. 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.”
The Community Security Trust (CST) chief executive Mark Gardner said: “We have repeatedly stated that these protests should be kept away from synagogues, especially on the Sabbath.
“Their chutzpah is unmatched, exploiting freedoms that they deny to others. Above all, they hate anyone suspected of backing Israel and we know full well what destruction they mean by slogans such as ‘River to the Sea’ and ‘Global Intifada’.”
In September, Scotland Yard admitted to making mistakes in its handling of the Gaza protests, which have been occurring almost every other weekend since October 7, 2023. Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist acknowledged in an interview with Policy Exchange that the force should have responded more promptly to "jihad" chants.
The marches, which sometimes attract tens of thousands to the capital, have become the biggest continuing drain on police resources since before the 2012 London Olympics, The Times reported.
The Met said: “We’ve repeatedly imposed conditions on form-up locations, routes, and start times to limit disruption precisely because we’ve listened to concerns raised.
“The measures we’ve taken aren’t seen by everyone as being enough, but we believe they have been proportionate and reasonable.”
The Palestine Solidary Campaign said: “The intention is to begin with a protest outside of the BBC to draw attention to its biased coverage. The march does not go past any synagogue. There is a synagogue some streets away from where the march assembles.”
