Police in Edinburgh told a Jewish man to hide his Star of David for his “safety” and to avoid it being a “trigger” for protesters during an anti-Israel rally.
A recording of the incident, which occurred during a march in the capital city last Saturday, has gone viral. In the video, a Jewish man is approached by a police officer who warns him that his Magen David chain may “trigger” a “dangerous situation.”
The Jewish bystander had been silently filming the anti-Israel rally on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile when the officer told him “you’re not doing anything illegal” but “if people will see your star... they will just get very, very angry.”
“I am just making you aware that might trigger the people because, obviously, I understand that you are sitting on different sides of the fence; that is my only concern.
“That the star will set them off and they’ll cause an argument,” the officer went on.
The man who filmed the incident was wearing a Star of David necklace (photo: Twitter/X)
There is no indication that the Jewish bystander was wearing any pro-Israel clothing.
The police officer informed the man that his necklace could start an “argument” which could turn into a “fight” and “there’s only three of us [police] to manage that.” The JC understands that the officer was one of three specialist Protest Liaison Officers within a wider deployment of officers.
The Jewish man told the officer that he had no intention of starting an argument with any of the protestors.
He said: “It is my religion, I am Jewish, so I don’t see a problem with showing my Judaism.”
The officer said, “that was fine” but said the Jewish symbol “triggers them [the anti-Israel protesters]” and that the man could “put himself into a dangerous situation.”
The policeman asked the Jewish man if he could hide his Magen David behind his jumper, to which he asserted: “I do [mind] actually, yes…If someone is triggered then I think they need to learn how to control their emotions.”
The clip ends when the officer warns the man that there were over one thousand anti-Israel protesters in the city that day, “I” 'm guessing there will be a lot of them walking around the city later on” the officer said.
He warned the Jewish man that he might end up being surrounded by lots of the protesters, which would not be “a nice situation". He told the man he should “look after himself”.
Campaign Against Antisemitism reacted on X/Twitter: “The police officer is clearly worried that he and his colleagues are heavily outnumbered and that these protesters could pose a threat to Jews, but his response was effectively to stop a passing Jewish man and ask him to hide his identity before continuing on his way.
“Whose rights are actually being protected here, those of law-abiding people or those of mobs of extremists who might be “triggered” by people being Jewish in public?”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We are aware of the video and the contents are being reviewed.”
