Jewish groups in Manchester have welcomed a final warning handed to a local police, officer after he posted an image on Facebook comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
In a statement, the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester said: "The Greater Manchester Jewish community recognises the formal written warning given to PC Shahid Shah for posting a "grossly offensive" image on Facebook of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu imposed on a photo of Adolf Hitler.
"It is disappointing to hear that a serving police officer behaved in this manner and we are clear that what he did was antisemitic and racist.
Shahid Shah was handed a final written warning by Greater Manchester Police, but will keep his job, after appearing before a disciplinary panel. GMP confirmed that the warning will stay in place for the rest of his career.
The panel, which for the first time included an independent chair, also recommended that the officer should have further diversity and social media training over the next 12 months.
The composite picture of Mr Netanyahu and Hitler was posted by PC Shah on a Facebook page where police officers were discussing Gaza.
It is understood that two Jewish police officers who saw the picture anonymously reported the incident to their superiors.
A disciplinary panel, held in public, heardthat the 39-year-old officer “only apologised when he was interviewed”.
PC Shah, who has previously served in the Royal Logistics Corps and was part of the peacekeeping force in Bosnia, apologised but defended his intentions.
According the Manchester Evening News, the disciplinary panel said: “If this has caused people upset, I’m sorry. It was never my intention to offend, only to prompt debate about the situation in Gaza”.
“I saw innocent women and children being killed and wounded and I wanted people to think long and hard about the situation,” he added.
Clare Hockney, who chaired the panel, said PC Shah had made an “early admission, apologised in his interview and accepted it was an error of judgment.”
She added that he had “shown remorse” and has deleted his Facebook page.
In their statement, the Jewish Representative Council for Greater Manchester continued: “We hope that Pc Shah will learn from the diversity and social media training he has been ordered to attend.
“We also hope that he will make an effort to get involved in the various multi-faith opportunities within Greater Manchester, particularly the We Stand Together initiative, which is led by Greater Manchester Police."
