On 23rd October (Monday), United Kingdom (UK) Home Secretary Suella Braverman will sit for a meeting with Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Mark Rowley to discuss ways to counter growing anti-semitism in the country and the law and order situation. As per British media, during the scheduled meeting, Braverman will seek answers from Metropolitan Police Chief Rowley regarding the force’s decision not to arrest pro-Palestine protesters calling for “jihad” against Israel.
A source close to the Home Secretary shared details regarding the scheduled meeting between the two. According to the source, Met Chief is expected to highlight problems in the existing laws that make it difficult – under both public order and terrorism legislation – to prosecute such calls for jihad.
On her part, Suella Braverman would use the meeting to question the Met Chief regarding his views on his force’s response to Saturday’s incident, UK media reported citing the source. The Home Secretary would also emphasise that there is no place for incitement to hatred and direct the forces to crack down on such violators.
The source said, “There can be no place for incitement to hatred or violence on Britain’s streets and, as the home secretary has made clear, the police are urged to crack down on anyone breaking the law.”
The Met Police defended the calls for Jihad against Israel saying Jihad has many meanings
Notably, the Metropolitan Police downplayed open calls for jihad which were raised by Hamas supporters in Central London during a protest on 21st October (Saturday). Instead of taking cognisance of the matter, the UK’s Metropolitan Police came out in defence of the Islamists and said that calls for jihad against Israel had nothing to do with terrorism.
In a contentious tweet, the Met Police said, “The word jihad has a number of meanings but we know the public will most commonly associate it with terrorism.” It added that they have specialist counter-terrorism officers who have domain knowledge. These officers assessed the video, filmed at the Hizb ut-Tahrir protest in central London, and did not identify any offences arising from the specific clip.
The Met Police didn’t identify any offences in banners that referred to Islamic armies. It added that “jihad” has “a number of meanings” while “there are varying interpretations” of what “Muslim armies” can refer to.
Chants of Jihad at such protests amount to incitement to terrorist violence, says UK’s Immigration Minister
Speaking to LBC, UK’s Minister for Immigration, Robert Jenrick noted that the Met’s conclusion over the chants of “jihad” during a pro-Palestine protest in London was “surprising”.
Jenrick asserted that the government would speak to the force about the protest led by Hizb ut-Tahrir that took place in Central London on Saturday, in addition to the main pro-Palestine protest, held the same day.
Speaking to LBC’s Andrew Castle on 22nd October, Jenrick said, “I think a lot of people would find the Metropolitan Police analysis surprising and that’s something we intend to raise with them and to discuss this incident with them.”
He emphasised that the chants of Jihad are totally unacceptable and there can be no place for such slogans. He added that such chants in these protests are “an incitement to terrorist violence”.
Jenrick further added, “I don’t think that there’s any place for chants of ‘jihad’ on the streets of Britain, I think that’s totally unacceptable. In the context that was said yesterday, from what I’ve seen, that is an incitement to terrorist violence.”
He, however, said that the ultimate decision rests with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service on whether to take action or not.
On Saturday (21st October), the Metropolitan Police estimated that up to 100,000 people gathered in central London to show solidarity with Palestinian civilians. However, the chants of ‘Jihad’ against Israel were made in a separate protest on the same day.
During the controversial protest, an Islamist was heard asking in viral videos, “What is the solution to liberate people from the concentration camp called Palestine?” The mob of Hamas supporters cheered in unison, “Jihad, Jihad, Jihad.”
