Why did Gideon Falter cross the road? Or try to? That is a question that went viral this weekend. A video emerged of Falter, who leads the Campaign Against Antisemitism, being threatened by police for trying to cross a pro-Palestinian protest in central London. He was wearing a kippah and carrying a prayer shawl bag, and had reportedly just emerged from a synagogue with some friends and was trying to get home. Police officers had spotted him leaving the pavement on a collision course with protestors and intervened. A tense standoff unfolded, with an officer telling him in that his ‘openly Jewish’ appearance was ‘antagonising’ the crowd. A calamitous initial response by the Metropolitan Police which, in effect, said that being recognisably Jewish was ‘provocative’ compounded calls for the force’s beleaguered boss Sir Mark Rowley to resign.
Cultural change is a marathon, not a sprint
Did Falter intend to provoke the response he got? If so, he was right to do so. He demonstrated vividly the risk of being recognisably Jewish in our capital city in 2024. However, this incident is no reason for Rowley’s head to roll.
Many people have taken to social media to suggest that the police officer who is mainly seen dealing with Falter will be ‘mortified’ by his actions. Not only is this misplaced, but it misunderstands just how impossible a task the Mayor of London and Home Secretary have set Sir Mark and his officers. The officer in question knew that Falter was liable to be assaulted had he tried to cross the road through a noisy demonstration of pro-Palestine marchers. He also knew there was insufficient capacity to deal with the likely aftermath of such an incident. We have seen much footage of overwhelmed police on previous protests ‘de-arresting’ suspects involved in public order offences after their detention. The Peelian principle of policing without fear has been replaced by the policing of ratios. The plain fact is that there was not enough resources to allow a Jewish man to safely cross the street in his own city. And so the officer bent over backwards to try to accommodate Mr Falter with other alternatives. In the end, perhaps sensing his determination to assert these rights, the officer threatened to have him arrested.
Mr Falter and others, including Suella Braverman, have called for Sir Mark’s head over this. Braverman was taken to task on Monday’s BBC Radio 4 Today programme by Mishal Husain for basing this conclusion on a video she had only seen clips of. It was not an edifying listen.
Having now watched the extended footage, twice, nothing has changed my mind about the outrageous context of this incident: that visibly Jewish people have to be threatened with arrest to be kept safe and nothing is done about the perpetrators of the menace, since there are simply too many of them. There is a recurring pattern of appeasement-policing of mass protests, that Braverman used to justify her argument. It would not have mattered whether Braverman saw edited highlights of the incident or the full monty. She was right to draw attention to the big picture on this.
Yet Braverman is wrong on Sir Mark’s position being untenable. Mark Rowley has been Met Commissioner for 18 months. He was brought in to try to restore the Met’s shattered reputation after the mishandling of many high-profile scandals. He has been active in his stated intention to rid the Met of unsuitable and criminally minded officers in the ranks who have soiled the Met’s vaunted position as Britain’s premier police service. Cultural change is a marathon, not a sprint.
He has fumbled the ball in previously stating that more laws are needed to police the regular mass protests. What is plainly the case in this weekend’s example, however, is that Rowley’s frontline colleagues are unable to police existing laws that see vile displays of hatred and anti-Semitic impunity infiltrating every protest outing.
Sir Mark must be left to the enormous unfinished task of re-professionalising London’s police service. He needs the resources to do so, as well as the political will from the Home Secretary and the Mayor to convince Jewish people they can be safe in London. The clock is ticking but this is no time for an early departure.
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