Watch on Tuesday (21 May) as Michael Gove speaks on antisemitism after it was revealed Jewish hate crimes have tripled in London.
The communities secretary will accuse organisers of pro-Palestinian marches of not doing enough to stop some demonstrators spreading anti-Jewish messages in a speech condemning the rise in antisemitism in the UK.
The Cabinet minister will say that while many protesters are “thoughtful, gentle, compassionate people”, they are “side by side with those who are promoting hate”.
Critics have voiced concerns about the handling of the demonstrations and the effect they have on the UK’s Jewish community.
Organising groups have previously said that the marches, which have drawn crowds of thousands in calling for an end to the war in Gaza, are overwhelmingly peaceful with a low arrest rate.
“Many of those on these marches are thoughtful, gentle, compassionate people – driven by a desire for peace and an end to suffering. But they are side by side with those who are promoting hate,” Mr Gove will say in a speech on Tuesday.
“The organisers of these marches could do everything in their power to stop that. They don’t.”
Some seven arrests were made during a protest in central London on Saturday, which was attended by thousands of people calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East.
They included one man who was observed by officers “carrying a coffin with offensive language on it,” Scotland Yard said.
Mr Gove will highlight that the UK has seen a spike in antisemitism more widely, arguing that it is the “common currency of hate” and the “thread that connects extremist ideologies from Islamists to those on the far right and the hard left”.
Reports of anti-Jewish hate incidents in the UK reached a record high last year, according to figures from a Jewish security charity.
Two-thirds of the 4,103 antisemitic incidents occurred on or after Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza, the Community Security Trust (CST) has said.
