POLICE officers are set to intervene if protesters use the word “jihad” in chants in London over the weekend, the Metropolitan Police has said.
Around 100,000 protesters took part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the capital last weekend, with a similar number expected to attend another event on Saturday.
A video emerged of a pro-Palestinian protester calling for “jihad” at a fringe event held outside the Egyptian Embassy while calling for "Muslim armies" to be raised to support Palestine.
Police previously said no offences were identified in the footage from the demonstration.
Ahead of the weekend, Kyle Gordon, who is leading the force’s command team, told a press briefing: “If somebody is calling for jihad specifically against Israel the officers will intervene, gather the information, report it back into us and we’ll be working with colleagues [from counter-terrorism] in relation to what the best course of action is.”
It comes after Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley (above) differed with ministers this week over how to police pro-Palestine protesters using the phrase.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signalled that police are unlikely to be given more powers to address chants deemed to be extremist after the comments at last Saturday’s rally.
That is despite suggestions from Rowley that laws may need to be redrawn, amid concerns about gaps in current anti-extremism legislation.
Scotland Yard had pointed out that jihad has “a number of meanings” after officers had spoken to the man to discourage the chanting.
There have been 408 recorded antisemitic offences in London between October 1 and 27, compared to 28 in the same period last year, the force has revealed.
In that time there have been 174 Islamophobic offences compared to 65 in the same period in 2022.
The force has also made 75 arrests linked to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Meanwhile, officers have made 4,960 visits to vulnerable premises in the capital, including 730 schools and around 3,400 religious places in the last three weeks.
It has also been revealed that UK counter terrorism officers are in Israel supporting the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office over the deaths of British nationals after Hamas attackers entered the country earlier this month.
There are also 10 counter terrorism investigations linked to internet-related breaches of the Terrorism Act.
Scotland Yard has confirmed it will not use facial recognition technology to spot any wrongdoers at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign on Saturday.
