One of the men arrested for being part of a pro-Palestine convoy filmed blaring “rape Jewish daughters” as it passed through North London has claimed he was mistreated by a “Jewish” policeman after the incident.

Another complained officers had forced them to stand in the rain and cold despite his asthma after they were stopped following the protest in which shouts of “F*** the Jews. F*** all of them. F*** their mothers, F*** their daughters” could also clearly be heard.

Another of those arrested protested his dog phobia was ignored after the police used the animals during his detention.

“I was mistreated by a policeman. I think he was of Jewish background,” said Asif Ali, 26, one of those arrested in a car identified by a police investigation into the incident.

“He was so against me that he didn’t want to take me into his car. He put me in handcuffs, threw me around, looked at me with hate. Treated me as a terrorist or a killer,” he added.

Convoy

Hate convoy: Some of the vehicles that drove through North London in 2021 pumping out antisemitic slogans (Photo: Twitter)

Mr Ali and three others, Adil Mota, Mohammed Hanif and 25-year-old Jawad Hussain, were alleged to have travelled to join the rally from Blackburn in May 2021 and charged with using “threatening, abusive or insulting words, or behaviour, with intent, likely to stir up racial hatred”.

Speaking for the first time about the incident, Mr Ali, from Blackburn, said he was not involved in shouting the hate-filled chants: “I have no issue with a normal Jewish person. I have Jewish friends.

“What I have faced has changed my life. It’s been horrible. I need counselling sessions.

"My life is not the same anymore. Imagine that your whole family, circle of friends and local community see police vans with sniffer dogs and armed officers parked outside your house at all times for many weeks. Everyone assumes you are a terrorist or a criminal.”

Ali and three others, Adil Mota, Mohammed Hanif, and Jawad Hussain, 35, were alleged to have travelled to join the rally from Blackburn in May 2021 and charged with using ”threatening, abusive or insulting words, or behaviour, with intent, likely to stir up racial hatred”.

Footage of a convoy through St John’s Wood in north London was circulated on social media, in which anti-Semitic abuse was heard being shouted from cars, including a call to
“Rape their daughters...Please do it for the poor children in Gaza,”.

However, last month, the Crown Prosecution Service sparked outrage when it dropped the charges against Hanif and Hussain, saying it would not be able to prove to a court that the individuals were in the car at the time of the captured footage The case against Ali and Mota had been abandoned previously.

Giving his first interview about the case, Mota, 27, also complained of police maltreatment.

He said: “I was made to stand outside in the rain for 30 minutes and I suffer from asthma.

They kept me and others out in the cold. It was freezing. They manhandled us, treated us like terrorists,”

While Hanif, 28, also speaking for the first time, claimed to be the victim of police harassment. He said: “For two to three weeks the police were coming to our houses daily in Blackburn. The whole thing was based on anti-terrorism issue,” he said.

“The police jumped to conclusions. They were knocking on our doors at all hours to harass us in the name of checking on us...whether we were home or not.

“They forced their way into my house... They put all my family in one room to do searches.”
Describing his arrest, he added: “I was shocked when the police put sniffer dogs on me ... I have a phobia of dogs.”

Hussain claimed the investigation was a government witch hunt. “Our whole life was put on hold. People who will not get to know the outcome will assume we are guilty of these offences,” he said.

“Rather than thoroughly investigate the incident the police were under political pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office on the day of the incident when the video was shared on all social media platforms.”

The men’s complaints put renewed focus on the police inquiry.

Mota revealed that, while driving home following the protest, the group suddenly had police cars “all around” them.

“There were police helicopters involved. There were armed policemen from anti-terrorism unit”, he claimed

“I believe there were over 100 policemen with sniffer dogs and masks holding guns at us. We all were in the same car when we were dragged out. The police were wearing body cams. We were taken into separate cars.

Hanif added: “The police took away my phone, several phones from my home, my laptop and electronic media. The whole box of phones was taken away but nothing returned yet.”

Blackburn-born Mota, Hanif and Ali, said they were motivated by fervent support for Palestine and opposition to Israel, but were not bigots.

“I am not anti-Jewish,” Mota claimed.

“However I don’t agree with innocent civilians being killed by Israeli army, not happy at how Israel treats Palestinians. We receive news about the atrocities of Israel through social media.

“The Jewish community is absolutely right to be angry,” Hanif added.

“Because they have been let down by the police system, the justice system. We have been let down too. We should have never been in this situation in the first place.

“Had this case been properly investigated the actual culprits would have been identified and caught. The police didn’t have sufficient evidence.”

However, Ali insisted his experience would not stop him from protesting again. “I will not stop myself and will not come under any pressure but I will make sure that I travel with a body cam,” he said.

“I will make sure that I record myself so I am not wrongly accused. I will not stop anyone from going to a peaceful demonstration.”

Hanif and Mota, however, said they would not take the risk in future.

“We are under pressure from the family not to attend in person or take part in any activity online,” Hanif said.

“We don’t want to go through this again. From the heart we continue to support but not in person… I want to move on with my life.”