The Community Security Trust (CST) is calling on the government to urgently intervene in plans for a major anti-Israel march scheduled to occur on Yom Kippur.
The demonstration, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), is due to take place in central London on October 12, when members of the Jewish community will be attending synagogues in the area for a full day of prayer on the holiest day of the year.
The march is set to begin at 12pm, raising concerns within the community about the impact of demonstrations on Jewish congregants as they leave the morning service.
David Rich, the Director of Policy at the CST, has demanded that the march must under no circumstances pass by any central London shuls and has advised that the demonstration be rescheduled entirely to avoid worshippers feeling intimidated.
He said: “The prospect of an anti-Israel demonstration taking place anywhere near the central London synagogues on Yom Kippur – the holiest day of the Jewish year and just a few days after the October 7 anniversary – when synagogue services are going on all day and congregants will be walking to and from synagogue, is completely unacceptable.”
The activist group is behind many of the pro-Palestine protests that have erupted across the country since October 7. Antisemitic chants and pro-Hamas placards have often featured in the demonstrations.
On Saturday’s anti-Israel march – the eighteenth organised by the PSC since October 7 – six demonstrators were arrested for offences including “racially aggravated Public Order offences in relation to signs and a gesture”, “criminal damage”, and “assault”, according to the Met Police.
“Every time there is a large anti-Israel march, it includes people carrying antisemitic placards, chanting for Israel to be eliminated and supporting Hamas,” said Rich.
“It would be completely wrong and grossly insensitive for another such march to go anywhere near a synagogue on Yom Kippur, or to disturb Jewish people on their way to and from synagogue on such a solemn day.”
The Met deputy chief, Matt Twist, recently admitted that mistakes had been made in the policing of the Gaza marches and that certain arrests had not been made quickly enough.
He told the Policy Exchange think tank that “we know we didn’t get everything right”, such as failing to immediately arrest a demonstrator “chanting for ‘jihad’”.
Rich said: “These anti-Israel marches have been going on for almost a year, always on a Saturday, and are often disruptive for the synagogues in central London that are on or near the protest routes or assembly points.
“Some synagogues have felt the need to change their service times and cancel events when the protests are taking place. They cause a lot of upset in the Jewish community and lot of people avoid central London on the days when demonstrations are taking place.”
The impact of the protests on Jews entering and leaving shul on Shabbat have been avoided with precise scheduling. But an anti-Israel march on Yom Kippur poses a unique challenge since synagogues will be attended throughout the day until the evening.
“We are raising this urgently with the police and government,” said Rich. “Ideally the demonstration would be postponed, but failing that, it must be moved well away from any synagogues or from the routes that congregants will be using throughout the day to go to and from prayers.”
The PSC has been contacted for comment.
