To think that London, or anywhere else for that matter, does not belong to any one demographic

I would say Mr Falter may have been trying to be provocative. Amongst other things he was trying to do.
Does that make a difference in law to all of this?
Tried to goo gle, but cant find out.

If only they could be stopped - but you can imagine the uproar. I hope that, as often happens, police review cctv footage of the march and identify those using hate speech. But the police are too hopelessly outnumbered on the ground to be able to make arrests at the time.

Which posters are ‘hate mongering’, Wyllow?

I have watched the vide but found it difficult to hear the exchange of words because of the noise in the background.
That is not a peaceful protest passing by.

The fact remains, the police consider that an 'openly Jewish' man is not safe to cross the streets, not the fact that the march protesters are the people posing the threat to him crossing the street. The man may well have an agenda, as do the Palestinians; is he to be denied the right to gather evidence to promote his cause whilst they are not?
It is appalling that Londoners and visitors to the city have to tolerate this disturbance every week. I had no idea how violent and disruptive, and how large, they are.

Thank you for the link GSM it certainly gives further insight into what took place and is not as was originally reported.

I agree that GF was looking to cause an incident and his agenda is pretty clear from the full footage.

What I dont understand is, surely, after 150 years of marches or however many years, there are not clear rules by now. In the Uk.
Which both the police and the general public could/would/should be well aware of.

The whole thing doesnt seem to be rocket science to me.

Oreo

Yes, he was making a point and why not? Jewish Londoners are sick to the back teeth of weekend pro Palestinian marches making a no go area for them in central London along with anti semitic comments and behaviour from others towards them wherever they go.
Did the Met officers arrest anyone for hate crime who gathered around them shouting scum! Babykillers! And other insults?
No, they ignored that.The Met go after low hanging fruit every time.
The point that was being made here is stop these marches which cause hate and division, it’s already gone on far too long.

Yes, he was making a point and why not?

That was my point in an earlier comment.

He's a journalist doing a job. Maybe he was attempting to prove a point, test the climate of feeling - he's quite probably aware of the antisemitism among some of the marchers - but this is how journalists work, by investigating.

The unfortunate police officer has an impossible job. He also knows that there are some taking part in the march who are most certainly not there for peaceful protest and he has to make sure that there are no outbreaks of trouble but is outnumbered - there are just not sufficient numbers of officers for this.

And I believe his hapless comment was meant as a warning to the journalist in this particular situation, rather than implying that it is an offence to be openly Jewish. Nevertheless, one has to ponder whether he would've suggested that another individual was "openly Muslim". No one, Muslim or Jew should be forced to hide their identity to avoid being attacked.

IMO the problem lies with the fact that these marches, though largely peaceful, contain individuals who are quite openly antisemitic, and I don't believe the right way of dealing with them is to tell Jewish people to keep out of the way to avoid trouble. They should be prosecuted for hate-crimes.

If multi-culturalism is to work, then both cultures must have equal protection under the law.

On a more positive note, it should be acknowledged that the Met has made thousands of visits to synagogues and mosques (and schools) in order to engage with senior members of local communities. Of course, this doesn't engender sensational headlines in the media - but it's a pity that this pro-active initiative isn't more widely reported.

And just to make clear, leaving aside any biases, which there seem to be some on this thread,
rules of whoever are protesting. and want to object to the protesting. Or make a point. Or genuinely want to walk across the road in the midst of one. Or want to film. The whole lot of it all.

There cannot be anything new under the sun about this subject by now. Surely?

Anniebach

From SKY video

When Mr Falter asked if he would be allowed to cross the road if he removed his kippah, the officer said he would not because he was not confident he would not put it back on.

Definitely anti semitism

It’s not, Annie, it’s the common sense reaction of an experienced policeman. If he was antisemitic he would just have let GF and his friends walk into the march and take their chances against those shouting hate speech at them (which you previously said would have been ‘suicide’). And you should have seen from the Sky video that it was not about crossing the road at all. Ask yourself what GF’s agenda was in disseminating a carefully edited version of events - he was not aiming to show the hate speech of some marchers, the real cause of the fear many Jews feel, he was aiming at the police. And is now calling for the Chief of the Met to go.

Callistemon21

foxie48

Goodness, anyone who disagrees is either anti semitic or "hard left"! Just for the record, I'm neither but like GSM (who I also think is neither) I can see a "set up", read a transcript and come to my own conclusion about what's really going on.

But can you see what's really going on?

Amongst the well meaning marchers are those with a very nasty agenda.

This is London, this is the UK.
This hatred should not be happening on our streets.

I am discussing the video of the police interaction with GF. I would rather see the police dealing with anyone on the march who is breaking the law than see them remonstrating with GF. I have absolutely no sympathy with anti semitism and I have made that clear in all my posts, just as I have said on a number of occasions I do not support Hamas. tbh I find it a very weak argument for anyone to name call instead of putting together their own strong case in rebuttal.

The unfortunate police officer has an impossible job.

He shouldnt be in the position. In this day and age. Or even decades ago.

He should know absolutely, precisely, what he should do.

And he was doing what he should do - protecting someone from harm. He achieved that end.

I did not call anyone names.
You should retract that statement.

I think there is a strong case for the unease some of us feel about what is happening.

We need to reclaim our streets so that everyone is free to walk.

London does not belong to the protestors..

That post was to foxie48 who made an untrue accusation.

Germanshepherdsmum

And he was doing what he should do - protecting someone from harm. He achieved that end.

And now we have calls online for him to be named, hunted down, sacked, and to lose his pension. I’m amazed that anyone signs up for the job.

The potential 'harm' should not be allowed on the streets in the first place; these marches are not peaceful and they serve no useful purpose.
This incident has exposed the cowardice of those who lead the police force; Matt Twist insinuation of victim blaming, and Mark Rowley's lack of public comment.
Sadiq Khan has his own agenda.

Maybe there are not rules[yet], if a non protestor. wants to willingly put themselves in harm's way.

GrannyGravy13

Vintagewhine

Have anyone seen the Sky video? If you haven't I suggest you should. IMO It demonstrates that Gideon Falter wanted to walk through the march with his small group of followers videoing in the hope that someone in the crowd would do something newsworthy. He's not just walking home from the synagogue on his way home. The police officer explains why he wants him not to and there is nothing anti semitic about his reasoning, his job is to keep the peace and prevent disorder. Suella was interviewed this morning she'd not seen the whole video either. These marches have been generally good humoured and peaceful with a few incidents that should not happen. Why would a group of Jewish men who were not supportive of the march want to walk straight through the middle to cross the road and argue with the police when politely asked not to?

I have seen the full video.

As I posted earlier, London is either open for all ethnicities and religions or it is closed for all.

Apparently it is closed for Jews, which to me means blatant antisemitism..

You are now accusing Gideon and his fellow Jewish friends as lying as you do not be the was on his way back from his synagogue?

It's nothing to do with what I believe, but what the police officers on duty thought at the time. Mr Falter had already been on the other side of the road, had crossed the demonstration and now said he wanted to cross the road again. The video shows him walking against the flow of the march. He was surrounded by people, including somebody filming his actions. It didn't look as though he was merely walking home from the synagogue. Whatever the police officer thought about the legality of the march, it was his job to protect the public and Mr Falter's behaviour looked as though it was provocative and he wanted to prevent an incident. His words were unwise and apologies have been made.

fancythat

Maybe there are not rules[yet], if a non protestor. wants to willingly put themselves in harm's way.

In potential harm's way.

eazybee

The potential 'harm' should not be allowed on the streets in the first place; these marches are not peaceful and they serve no useful purpose.
This incident has exposed the cowardice of those who lead the police force; Matt Twist insinuation of victim blaming, and Mark Rowley's lack of public comment.
Sadiq Khan has his own agenda.

What's Sadiq Khan's agenda? And could you please give evidence?

Maggiemaybe

Germanshepherdsmum

And he was doing what he should do - protecting someone from harm. He achieved that end.

And now we have calls online for him to be named, hunted down, sacked, and to lose his pension. I’m amazed that anyone signs up for the job.

No, but he does need some retraining, along with some of his superior officers.

I know they have a hard job and there is enough crime to keep them all busy without these marches which achieve absolutely nothing except cause divisions in society.

I'm still waiting for an apology from foxie48
I did not call anyone on here names.

I applaud GF in fighting antisemitism but can't condone his actions at the marches.
That police officer showed huge amounts of patience with GF who had been walking towards the marchers filming them. I can understand some people taking exception to being filmed and a situation could have arisen.
The police put their lives on the line and have to react if fighting breaks out.
A friend of ours, a young police officer, was badly injured in a riot. He died aged 25 a few weeks later. He left a wife and baby son.
GF wanted to cause a reaction that he could film putting lives at risk.

The officer should have escorted Mr Falter where he wanted to go, for his own safety, given that the Met have already said it’s fine to wave swastikas in the streets, which some of these mobs do

Exactly Janestheone! If a swastika is not deemed provocative why would a kippah be?

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13335931/Rishi-Sunak-confidence-met-commissioner-Sir-Mark-Rowley.html

I am assuming from this that the man did not do anything wrong in wishing to cross the street. And should have been allowed to do so.
Else, by now, the police, or lawyers, would have said by now, that some law or other was broken.