After officer warns campaigner for being 'openly Jewish'... Met Police are so cowed by the anti

Release time：2024-05-21 10:14:09 Source：International Index news portal

Scotland Yard was facing yet more anger from Jewish groups on Saturday after a Holocaust memorial was covered up over fears it would be vandalised by pro-Palestine activists.

Officials in Hyde Park yesterday hid Britain's first public memorial to the six million victims of the Nazi genocide under a blue tarpaulin in a move one Holocaust survivor called 'shameful'.

The monument was then guarded by Metropolitan Police officers to stop it being targeted by pro-Palestine protesters who marched through London in yet another demonstration against the war in Gaza. 

Police chiefs have been urged to halt the almost weekly marches through Central London, which critics warn have turned the capital into a 'no-go' area for Jewish people. 

Thirteen marches held since the start of the war in October have now cost taxpayers £38.4 million to police.

Scotland Yard was facing yet more anger from Jewish groups on Saturday after a Holocaust memorial was covered up over fears it would be vandalised by pro-Palestine activists

The memorial consists of two boulders lying within a gravel bed, surrounded by a copse of silver birch trees. It is inscribed in both English and Hebrew with the words 'For these I weep. Streams of tears flow from my eyes because of the destruction of my people,' which is a quotation from the Book of Lamentations

'Shameful': Holocaust survivor Noemi Ebenstein, 82, called for tougher action on anti-Semitism after the monument in Hyde Park was covered up as a 'precautionary measure'

'Hundreds of thousands' of pro-Palestinian protesters marched through London today

Police officers detain a person as people take part in a pro-Palestine march on Whitehall in central London

Thirteen marches held since the start of the war in October have now cost taxpayers £38.4 million to police

Holocaust survivor Noemi Ebenstein, 82, said on Saturday the world needs to wake up to the scourge of anti-Semitism following another day of swastikas being waved through London.

On seeing the covered shrine, she said: 'It is shameful. Seeing this, it feels like they are winning. 

'Those who are Jew haters, those who are Holocaust deniers, they are winning because we are afraid of them. 

'I just wish the Western world would stand up to these people, instead of running away, covering up monuments and being apologetic.'

READ MORE: Met police arrest Gaza protesters for racism and hate banner comparing Israel to the Nazis - as 'up to 100,000 people' take to the streets of London in latest pro-Palestine rally

Stephen Pollard, editor-at-large of the Jewish Chronicle, demanded that police take sterner action to stamp out the marches.

'What is the line that needs to be crossed for people to think it's not OK for these hate marches to continue?' he said. 

'This is just totally damning of where we are now.

'It shows the depravity of so much of what's happening in London at the moment that they think it's important that they cover up a Holocaust memorial.'

Tory peer Lord Pickles, the UK's special envoy on post-Holocaust issues, said the sight of the memorial wrapped in plastic sheeting 'sends a terrible message to Jews in London and across the UK'.

Lord Pickles, who has been spearheading moves to get a national Holocaust memorial built next to the Houses of Parliament, said: 'The sight of this precious memorial to the Holocaust being wrapped in plastic sheeting is truly shocking. 

'Have we become so cowed and fearful in this country that instead of expecting pro-Palestinian protesters to obey the law, we hide away the memorial to save it from vandalism?'

Tory peer Lord Polak, president of Conservative Friends of Israel, said: 'We have reached a new low. 

'For many on the march, it is less about support for a Palestinian state and more about the hatred for the Jewish state and the Jewish people. 

'It's time for a rethink by the authorities whether such hatred should be displayed on our streets week after week.'

The outrage comes after Gideon Falter, who leads the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), was threatened with arrest for appearing 'openly Jewish' at a pro-Palestine march last week. 

The outrage comes after Gideon Falter, who leads the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), was threatened with arrest for appearing 'openly Jewish' at a pro-Palestine march last week

He had planned to lead a counter protest with the CAA yesterday but called it off citing fears for the safety of Jewish participants.

Instead, just a few dozen counter-protesters gathered at Pall Mall where they were protected by rows of police as up to 200,000 pro-Palestinians marched past.

Officers arrested two men, one for holding a placard with a swastika on it and another for an alleged racist remark towards counter-protesters. 

Police were also investigating other offensive signs, including one comparing Israelis to the Ku Klux Klan, and another stating that the media and Government are 'controlled by Zionists'.

Officers arrested two men, one for holding a placard with a swastika on it and another for an alleged racist remark towards counter-protesters. The Met Police told MailOnline: 'This man was seen on CCTV by officers in our operations room. Officers on the ground were guided in and he was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence'

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was among those holding banners at the front of the pro-Palestine protest.

Nine in ten British Jews say that they would avoid travelling to a city centre if a major anti-Israel demonstration was taking place, according to polling by the CAA.

Jewish Tory MP Andrew Percy called for a halt to the marches and said the sight of the memorial covered up 'makes me sick to the stomach', adding: 'For months now a cry of pain from the Jewish community has gone out each weekend these marches take place.

'Those taking part in them have repeatedly heard how uncomfortable the cries of jihad and the genocidal chants which permeate them make Jews feel.

'Despite this, they continue to turn up week after week, meaning the only thing we can conclude is that those on them either don't care or enjoy that they make Jewish people fearful. Enough is enough. 

Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was spotted among the crowds

'London's streets need to be returned to ALL Londoners.'

The memorial consists of two boulders lying within a gravel bed, surrounded by a copse of silver birch trees.

READ MORE: Moment pro-Gaza students harass Jacob Rees-Mogg hurling vicious foul-mouthed abuse as they surround his car while waving Palestinian flags after he gives speech at Cardiff University

It is inscribed in both English and Hebrew with the words 'For these I weep. Streams of tears flow from my eyes because of the destruction of my people,' which is a from the Book of Lamentations. 

Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews which funded the memorial, said: 'It's appalling that such precautions need to be taken to protect the memorial because of the risk it may now be defaced.'

Fears are also growing that student protests sparked by the war in the Middle East are getting out of control. 

Tents have been erected to occupy the University of Warwick while there were huge rallies at University College London in moves that mirror anger across American campuses.

Former US Speaker Nancy Pelosi's speech at the Oxford Union on Thursday was interrupted by protesters and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg was chased out of Cardiff University on Friday.

Royal Parks said they liaised with the Met over protests and said: 'The Hyde Park Holocaust memorial is routinely covered with tarpaulin during various events as a precautionary measure.'

The Met's Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said before the march: 'Our objectives this weekend are to protect the right to protest and to keep the peace.'

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