The Palestine Coalition has formally demanded that Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley retract claims that pro-Palestinian protest organisers repeatedly attempt to include synagogues on their planned routes through London. The coalition, which encompasses groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Stop the War Coalition, described Sir Mark’s assertions as 'incomprehensible and defamatory' in a letter sent to the police chief.
Background of the Controversy
The controversy stems from comments Sir Mark made to The Times, where he stated: 'Their initial suggestion for their route, their march, has involved walking by a synagogue. Each time we’ve prevented that, we’ve put conditions on. The fact that features as the organisers’ intent, I think that sends a message… that feels like antisemitism. That may be a fair or unfair inference, but that’s the message it sends.'
Coalition's Response
In their letter, the Palestine Coalition urged a 'speedy retraction of the accompanying scurrilous claim of antisemitism.' They opened by stating: 'We are very concerned to see that you have publicly stated that the organisers’ initial suggestion for the Palestine marches have ‘involved walking by a synagogue’ and that this sends a message that ‘feels like antisemitism’. These claims are incomprehensible and defamatory.'
The coalition explicitly denied the allegations, asserting: 'The truth is that at no point have we ever requested to ‘walk by’ a synagogue on any of our marches. We have no interest in doing so.' They claimed police recordings of meetings would confirm this and offered to provide email evidence. The letter detailed how their first suggested route for an upcoming march, used 'at least twice before' and containing no synagogues, was disallowed due to a Tommy Robinson demonstration 'inexplicably going to be granted the whole political centre of London.' A second suggestion, from the Israeli embassy via Knightsbridge to Trafalgar Square, was also disallowed, despite not passing a synagogue, with a 'shorter route arbitrarily imposed.' They concluded that it is 'completely unacceptable for a senior public official to make these false claims and accusations, which can only raise the level of tension in the current situation.'
Met Police's Clarification
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson responded by clarifying that Sir Mark’s comments, 'not carried in full in the article,' were 'not specific to the upcoming protest on Saturday May 16.' Instead, he was 'reflecting on the totality of the period of sustained protest since October 2023,' during which around 30 large marches were organised by the coalition's constituent groups. The spokesperson added that for 'around half of those marches, the original proposals put forward by organisers involved starting or ending in the vicinity of, or walking past, a synagogue.' They further stated that on 20 occasions, the route or form-up point was changed 'to protect Jewish communities and sensitive premises from disruption and/or intimidation,' through conditions or pre-event discussions.
The spokesperson explained the Commissioner believed the organisers’ repeated intent 'to continue to try and assemble or pass close to synagogues on so many occasions could, in his view, send a message to Jewish communities which feels like antisemitism.' While acknowledging he 'recognised that may or may not be a fair inference,' they stressed that 'the strength of feeling from those communities makes clear that for many, it is the message it sends.' The Met concluded by appealing to everyone, including protest organisers, 'to be mindful of the impact their actions, whether intended or not, have on other Londoners' and to 'acknowledge how British Jews are feeling in the current climate.'
