Anti-Semitism campaigners have reacted with anger after a Metropolitan Police officer was filmed telling a Jewish woman that swastikas displayed during a pro-Palestinian march in London needed to be “taken in context”.
Footage uploaded to social media shows a Jewish woman complaining to an officer about placards bearing Nazi symbols being carried by anti-Israeli demonstrators.
During the exchange, the woman challenged the officer about whether displaying a swastika was against the law.
She said: “I was told when I asked that a swastika was not necessarily anti-Semitic, that doesn’t seem right to me.”
The officer replies: “I think the symbol in and of itself….”
The woman went on: “If someone is carrying a sign with a swastika, you said you wouldn’t arrest them on the spot, it would have to be investigated online? A swastika in and of itself is not anti-Semitic?”
The officer then attempted to explain elements of the Public Order Act, but the woman interrupted him, saying: “A swastika is a swastika.”
She added: “Under what context is a swastika not disrupting public order? Could you just explain, under what that symbol is not disrupting public order?”
The officer responded: “I haven’t said at any point, have I, that it is or it isn’t? Everything needs to be taken within context, doesn’t it?”
‘In what context is a swastika not anti-Semitic?’
The woman went on: “Why is a swastika not immediately anti-Semitism? Why does it need context? This is what I am confused about.
“In what context is a swastika not anti-Semitic and disruptive to public order? That is my question.”
The officer said: “I don’t have an in-depth knowledge of signs and symbols. I know the swastika was used by the Nazi party during their inception and the period of them being in power in Germany in 1934. I am aware of that.”
The woman responded: “I just can’t believe this conversation is actually happening.”
She then offered to take the officer to show people on the march who were carrying placards bearing swastikas, but he insisted he had to remain at his post and said there were other officers throughout the protest.
He added: “If you walk down the road and you see that person then there’s a police officer…”
The woman explained that she had spoken to an officer who told her that it was “not their job to arrest people with swastikas”.
The officer replied: “I apologise that has happened… It is not my responsibility unfortunately to walk down the road. If you walk down the road and you see somebody then we can send some other officers with you back.”
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
