Police in London on Aug. 29 detained a Jewish man whom officers accused of “antagonizing” anti-Israel protesters, allegedly by wearing a Star of David pendant, a British paper reported on Saturday.
Police interview footage obtained by The Telegraph shows an officer accusing the Jewish man, who was not named in the article, of openly wearing a Star of David that could cause “offense.” The police told the paper that the man had been arrested for getting “too close” to the protesters and not because of his pendant.
The man was handcuffed and detained by police for almost 10 hours, the Telegraph reported. He told the paper that his detainment appeared to be an attempt by the Metropolitan Police to “criminalize the wearing of a Star of David.”
The symbol measured 2 cm.—less than an inch—across, according to the paper. The man, who does not wish to be named out of fear for his safety, remains on police bail more than six weeks after his arrest while police continue their inquiries, according to the paper.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote on X on Saturday: “The Star of David is a symbol of Jewish identity, not provocation. The fact that Jews are warned in central London not to display it publicly shows how rampant antisemitism spread through hateful ‘pro-Palestinian’ marches in Britain has poisoned the streets.”
Sa’ar added, “This is a moral disgrace. The British authorities must act: ban antisemitic slogans and conduct a full institutional review.”
The protest was held outside the Israeli embassy in Kensington in central London. The man, a lawyer in his 40s, insisted that he was acting as an independent legal observer, monitoring the event for unlawful behavior by the protesters and to scrutinize the actions of police.
But officers instead accused him of “antagonizing” the crowd and being part of a counter-protest.
He was held for questioning at Hammersmith police station, before being released at 4:30 the next morning.
The Metropolitan Police told the Telegraph that the man had been held not due to the Star of David, but for allegedly “repeatedly breaching” an order to keep opposing protest groups apart.
Police claim he got “very close” to the pro-Palestine protesters on multiple occasions, and alleged his actions went “beyond observing to provoking,” leading officers to designate him as “actively participating as a protester,” therefore subjecting him to conditions of the Public Order Act.
The man is a founder of the Society of Independent Legal Observers (Silo), set up earlier this year to monitor the growing wave of anti-Israel protests.
Gary Mond, chairman of the National Jewish Assembly (NJA), a Jewish community group, told JNS: “The detainment of a man wearing a Star of David sends a truly frightening message, not just to Britain’s Jews but also its Christians.”
A symbol displaying a belief in God “is now deemed intolerable because it might offend others with different beliefs or none at all,” Mond said. “This shows how our government and our woke left-wing culture deride, trample on and ultimately wish to extinguish Jews and Jewish life in Britain. And G-d fearing Christians will be next.”
Last year, Gideon Falter, who heads the U.K.-based Campaign Against Antisemitism, was prevented by a policeman from crossing a street as an anti-Israel protest passed.
“This is a pro-Palestinian march. I am not accusing you of anything, but I am worried about the reaction to your presence,” the officer told him in a video Falter’s group posted to X on April 18, 2024.
“The Metropolitan Police have made a series of high-profile errors in their responses to these demonstrations,” the Board of Deputies of British Jews said in response to that incident.
