BLOG: Rally result is a victory for our community - not a time to score points
"We were locked in conversations with the police and Home Office," said LJF's Jay Stoll, one of the leaders of the Golders Green Together initiative and a figure widely acknowledged as having played a key role.
He added: "The level of confidentiality always made it hard to be clear who was doing what behind the scenes, but we knew things could change closer to the day."
There was a clear change of atmosphere in dealings with police during the past fortnight, the JC understands.
"There was a constant stream of people raising it at all levels," said another figure who was involved in the discussions. "We felt the decision was coming, we knew there would be movement before the end of the week. We were expecting it from about two weeks ago. You can tell when the key figures' tone changes - you can read between the lines."
A meeting last week between Police Minister Mike Penning and the leaders of a number of communal organisations, arranged by Finchley and Golders Green MP Mike Freer, was described as "significant".
Mr Freer had secured the support of David Cameron when he raised the protest at Prime Minister's Questions a fortnight ago.
Mr Stoll said: "We are fortunate as a community that the government is willing to open the door to us. It was massive to have the entire House of Commons cheering its support."
The arrest of one of the demonstration's alleged organisers, Joshua Bonehill-Paine, last Friday, had also been seen as a "seminal moment".
Sources described reaching a "tipping point" last week, when the threat of serious public disorder became unavoidable. Had the neo-Nazi demonstration been allowed to take place in the centre of Golders Green, hundreds if not thousands of counter-protesters would also have converged on the area.
The police had been "really worried" about the prospect of "mayhem", one insider said. It was the possibility of clashes between supporters of groups on the far-left and far-right, together with Jewish families returning home from their synagogues, the Charedi community, anti-fascism campaigners, and even pro- and anti-Israel groups, which finally convinced officers to enforce the move.
Mr Stoll said: "These were extreme circumstances. There was not simply one moment where the police pricked their ears up. They are not a group you lobby. They make their decisions based on very real public order considerations.
"We now have a template for action. There's no doubt there will be more threats. This was a case of getting the job done and supporting the community."
The grassroots Campaign Against Antisemitism group claimed it was solely responsible for the demonstration's relocation. It was planning a counter-protest, under the banner "No to Nazis Here or Anywhere", which was backed by more than 2,300 people on social media. But the group said it would not travel to central London.
CAA chairman Gideon Falter said: "We're not going to counter-protest. What we've asked from the police all along is that they enforce the law as much as possible: moving it out of the area, kettling them and putting a time limit on it. They've done exactly what we've been asking for.
"There's only one thing that's brought this about, and that's that we called thousands of people to come out on to the streets. That's the one reason."
The left-wing Jewdas group pledged it would protest against the neo-Nazis in Whitehall. A spokesman said: "Central London also has a Jewish community that deserves defending from antisemitism. We know the far-right are planning more of these events and if we allow this to be unopposed they will only grow in confidence."
Addtional reporting by Josh Jackman
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