Have the police lost the plot over prayer?
by James Mildred, CARE:
One of the many troubling aspects of the current conflict in Israel and Gaza is the impact it’s had on the streets here in Britain. Since the terrorist group Hamas launched its brutal attack on Israel a few weeks ago, we’ve seen Jewish schools closed over safety fears and cases of antisemitism have increased. On social media, there’s also been numerous examples of people tearing down posters of missing, Jewish family members and children.
Such a conflict is sadly being fueled by the extremists on both sides, who push for ever more escalation. Meanwhile, a rearguard action is underway in parliament with calls from some politicians for an immediate ceasefire. The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stuck to the same line he’s used repeatedly: Israel has a right to defend itself and humanitarian aid should be allowed into Gaza. The Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, has largely held to the same line. But he’s under real pressure from some of his MPs, whose constituencies have a large Muslim population, to alter his stance. So far he’s resisting the pressure, but given Labour’s reliance on the Muslim vote, it remains to be seen how long this can hold.
So both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are under pressure. And after recent protests on the streets of London sparked by the conflict, the police are also under real scrutiny and pressure as well.
For each of the last few weekends, we’ve seen large, pro-Palestinian protests through central London. Under British law, we have a right to protest and to gather in a public place for that purpose. However, the soft touch approach by the Metropolitan Police has been fiercely criticised.
In particular, questions have been raised around why the police have not adopted a tougher approach to those calling for further acts of terrorism and jihad to take place. While some of those rallying no doubt were doing so out of a desire to call for humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, you also had a rally organised by Muslim cleric Hizb ut-Tahrir called for ‘Muslim armies’ to ‘liberate Palestine’. At other protests in London, there were calls for an Islamic state, for ‘Allah’s curses’ on the ‘infidels’ and ‘the Jews’ and for ‘Jihad’.
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