antisemitism

Palestine Coalition issue formal complaint against the Metropolitan Police Commissioner over his accusations of antisemitism

Spread the love

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley [Wikipedia]

The Palestine Coalition has today commenced a formal complaint with the London Mayor’s Office over comments by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley. In interviews with The Times and ITV on 1st May, Commissioner Rowley asserted that the Coalition organisers have sought to route marches for Palestinian rights past synagogues. In The Times he said, “The fact that features as the organisers’ intent, I think that sends a message … that feels like antisemitism.” On ITV he said, “They set out with an intent to march near synagogues etc and every single time that we put conditions on to prevent that.”

The Palestine Coalition have condemned his remarks and wrote to the Commissioner two days ago calling on him to retract these false and inflammatory statements. They said “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. Police recordings of our meetings with you will confirm this…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.”

In the complaint to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) the Coalition organisers say the Commissioner’s comments were intentional, not inadvertent, and made to undermine and stigmatise the Palestine marches. They say he has contravened the standards of professional behaviour of his office by not acting with honesty or integrity and has abused his powers and acted in a manner which undermines public confidence in the police. He has also acted in a racially discriminatory way in inferring that protests against fundamental violations of international law by Israel and by Britain are antisemitic. The Coalition is demanding a retraction by the Commissioner and a full apology.

The complaint comes ahead of the annual Nakba Day March, held this year on Saturday 16th May, which commemorates the 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine. The demonstration will call for an end to British support for Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people, and will also protest against the far-right march led by Tommy Robinson, happening on the same day. The Met Police have given the political centre of London to the demonstration by the “Unite the Kingdom” group, whilst continuing to restrict the options for the Nakba Day demonstration and imposing stifling conditions under the Public Order Act.

The Coalition members are: Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Palestinian Forum of Britain, Stop the War Coalition, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Muslim Association of Britain, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

READ: Britain’s ambassador to Washington concedes the ‘special relationship’ belongs to Israel, not the UK

Keir Starmer says that he's banning words and phrases now as well as placards.
Keir Starmer says that he’s banning words and phrases now as well as placards.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.

Continue ReadingPalestine Coalition issue formal complaint against the Metropolitan Police Commissioner over his accusations of antisemitism

Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley accused of making “false claims and accusations” against anti-war protestors, correction requested

Spread the love

The Palestine Coalition has written to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner calling on him to retract his claims that they “set out with an intent to march near synagogues”. The letter describes these claims as “incomprehensible and defamatory” and urges a “speedy … retraction.”

The letter

Dear Mark Rowley

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.

Our first route suggestion for the next demonstration to commemorate the Nakba, made in writing on 18 December last year, was for a march from Embankment to Whitehall, via Westminster and Waterloo bridges, a route which we have used at least twice before and on which there are no synagogues.

After three months of silence we finally were told by your officers that this route was disallowed on the grounds that Tommy Robinson’s far right demonstration – a real hate march – was inexplicably going to be granted the whole political centre of London, and that we would have to march elsewhere.

Our second suggestion, made after much protest, was that we march from the Israeli Embassy via Knightsbridge to Trafalgar Square – again, a route that does not go past a synagogue, and one previously agreed by the police.This too has been disallowed, and a shorter route has been arbitrarily imposed.

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. Police recordings of our meetings with you will confirm this.

We can and will provide the email evidence to back up these facts. 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.

We urge a speedy public retraction of your statement and the accompanying scurrilous claim of antisemitism.

Yours sincerely

The Palestine Coalition

Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Palestinian Forum of Britain
Stop the War Coalition
Friends of Al-Aqsa
Muslim Association of Britain
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament04 May 2026

Continue ReadingMet Police Commissioner Mark Rowley accused of making “false claims and accusations” against anti-war protestors, correction requested

Amnesty warns French bill could criminalise solidarity with Palestinians

Spread the love

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Demonstrators march through central Paris carrying Palestinian flags, banners and symbolic displays denouncing the death penalty and Israel’s policies toward Palestinians, during a protest organized by CAPJPO-Europalestine, as French police officers monitor the procession, in Paris, France on April 9, 2026. [Ümit Dönmez – Anadolu Agency]

Amnesty International warned on Monday about the potential impact of a proposed French law aimed at penalising anti-Zionism, saying it could effectively make support for Palestinians a criminal offence.

In a statement posted on the X platform, the organisation’s France branch criticised what is known as the “Yadan law”, warning it could lead to “criminalising support for Palestinians”.

The statement said French MP Caroline Yadan plans to submit the bill to the National Assembly on 16 April, cautioning that it could open the door to “extremely serious abuses”.

The draft law, first introduced in November 2024, proposes penalties for denying the existence of the State of Israel or comparing it to the Nazi regime.

READ: Algerian president, Pope Leo XIV call for justice for Palestinians

The French parliament is set to begin debating the bill, titled “Combating new forms of antisemitism”, starting on 16th April.

Supporters of the Palestinian cause and left-wing lawmakers oppose the proposal, arguing it could be used to punish anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel under the guise of tackling antisemitism.

More than 500,000 people have signed a petition on the parliament’s website opposing the bill, while a protest against it was held in Paris on Sunday.

READ: Israeli army detains 30 Palestinians in West Bank raids

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Continue ReadingAmnesty warns French bill could criminalise solidarity with Palestinians

Former Dulwich pupil says Farage told him: ‘That’s the way back to Africa’

Spread the love

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/05/nigel-farage-former-dulwich-college-pupil-alleges-said-thats-the-way-back-to-africa

Yinka Bankole in uniform, with his mother – Oluremi A Bankole – before going to Dulwich college in south-east London. Photograph: Yinka Bankole

[Guardian] Exclusive: Yinka Bankole says he felt compelled to speak out after Reform leader’s attempts to ‘dismiss’ hurt of alleged targets

A former Dulwich college pupil who claims a teenage Nigel Farage told him “that’s the way back to Africa” has said he felt compelled to speak out after the Reform leader’s attempt at “denying or dismissing” the hurt of his alleged targets.

Yinka Bankole, who claims he had just started at the school when a 17-year-old Farage singled him out for abuse, said he had decided to tell his story in full after watching the Reform leader’s press conference on Thursday.

Farage told reporters that he had never been racist or antisemitic with “malice”. Instead, he launched a tirade aimed at the BBC and ITV for questioning him about an ongoing Guardian investigation into allegations of past antisemitism and racism.

Citing television shows including Are You Being Served? and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Farage accused the BBC, which he suggested he would boycott, of “double standards and hypocrisy”, and claimed ITV had a case to answer for airing the comedian Bernard Manning in the 1970s.

…

Bankole continues, describing Farage’s behaviour when he was 9 and Farage would have been near 17 years of age. The story of this and repeated articles on this topic is that Farage was a nasty racist bully.

“It took him a while, I recall, but one day Farage, and at least one other, spotted me in the lower-school playground. He was about 17 years old.

“He towered over me. ‘Where are you from?’ he asked. Within seconds of offering my rather confused and sputtering answers, he had a clear response: ‘That’s the way back to Africa,’ with an accompanying hand gesture pointing towards a place far away.”

Bankole, 54, an engineer, said that once his “existence as a target was established”, Farage “would wait at the lower-school gate, where I was dropped off for school, so as to repeat the vulgarity”.

…

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/05/nigel-farage-former-dulwich-college-pupil-alleges-said-thats-the-way-back-to-africa

Continue ReadingFormer Dulwich pupil says Farage told him: ‘That’s the way back to Africa’

Never Again—Not in Our Name

Spread the love

Original article by Steve Minkin republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Injured Palestinians, including children and women, are brought to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for treatment as Israel launches large-scale air strikes across the Gaza Strip, in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on March 18, 2025. (Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

I was taught to believe L’chaim referred to the value of all human life. If so, for the toast to be more than an empty gesture we must recognize the plight of the Palestinians since the creation of the State of Israel.

The most important way to confront antisemitism and to respect the memory of the Holocaust is to speak the truth. We saw the truth of genocide in action when the Israelis killed more than 400 people and injured even more on a single night when they resumed bombing Gaza. These casualties joined the tens of thousands killed and those surviving without limbs, whose bodies and minds have been burned and broken, whose children have died or have been orphaned.

According to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), in an interview with Lulu Garcia-Navarro in The New York Times, those charging Israel with genocide are antisemitic. “And it is vicious of the opponents to call this genocide. Criticize it? For sure. Say Israel went too far? For sure. And you know what it does? It increases antisemitism, because they’re making Israel and the Jewish people look like monsters, which they are not.”

As I write this, doctors in Gaza are tending to shrapnel wounds penetrating the bodies and brains of children fighting for their lives in the face of genocide.

How could anyone viewing the devastation and the children’s bodies wrapped in shrouds as the result of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most recent political games think of those responsible for this carnage are anything but monsters? Of course, those who committed atrocities on October 7 are monsters too. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are responsible for tens of thousands more deaths and by numerous estimates more than 100,000 casualties.

The latest wave of destruction and slaughter during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was a particularly vicious way to end the cease-fire. Netanyahu and the Israeli leadership and large swaths of Israelis and Americans place as little value on Palestinian lives as the Nazis did regarding Jews. I’m not making false comparisons, but rather I am referring to what the philosopher Hannah Arendt called the Banality of Evil. The darkening of hearts that enabled the acceptance of the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust is at work in the commission of genocide in Gaza today.

“Hear o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is One” —the Shema is the most essential Jewish prayer. The 10 Commandments given by God are supposed to be the central ethical and moral tenants of Jewish life. How then can Jews massacre Palestinians when the commandment says, “Thou shall not murder?”

Consider the future of young Israelis in the military who are conditioned to see every Palestinian as an enemy whose life is worth pennies on the dollar. What will happen to those involved in war crimes and brutal injustices? Will their moral compasses ever reset? Will their hearts drown in tears or will they remain steadfast and pass on cruelty to the next generation?

Hold up a cup and say, “L’chaim,”—the Jewish toast to life. I was taught to believe L’chaim referred to the value of all human life. If so, for the toast to be more than an empty gesture we must recognize the plight of the Palestinians since the creation of the State of Israel.

The toast, which has been said for more than 2,000 years, is meant to be a celebration of humanity. We affirm the joy of living while feeling the weight of history. L’chaim must be said with conviction and passion. We toast the lives of you who have survived; we pray that someday your children and grandchildren can live as friends with our own.

As I write this, doctors in Gaza are tending to shrapnel wounds penetrating the bodies and brains of children fighting for their lives in the face of genocide.

Never Again was said after the Holocaust—Not in Our Name is what Jews opposed to genocide are shouting today.

Original article by Steve Minkin republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
Continue ReadingNever Again—Not in Our Name