Last week a Metropolitan Police officer told a Jew that if he walked into the “pro-Palestine” march he would arrest him because his presence would antagonise protesters — he was “openly Jewish”. The officer was right, if gauche. These marches are not safe for Jewish people who are not anti-Zionists (and the vast majority of British Jews are Zionists). The small anti-Zionist Jewish bloc is welcome because they confirm the majority’s prejudices, and protect them from accusations of antisemitism.
I stood at a counter protest a few weeks ago, holding a picture of Carmel Gat, a hostage in Gaza. The crowd moved over, they screamed, they mimed throat slitting. To me, they looked raging or ecstatic, and the ecstasy disturbed me. We needed the double line of police officers that we were granted for protection. I have no doubt that, were they not there, we would have been attacked. That day the police were excellent — when we pointed out antisemitic signs, they arrested those holding them.
