Calls are growing for the head of London’s Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, to resign over the force’s persistently poor handling of pro-Palestine demonstrations in the city.
The row has gained particular traction after police stopped kippah-wearing Gideon Falter, who is chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, from crossing a road on which a rally was taking place, telling him “You are quite openly Jewish,” and therefore “your presence” might cause a negative “reaction.”
Falter later wrote in The Sunday Times:
By the actions of the Metropolitan Police, it’s not just that central London is a “no-go zone” for Jews, as has been said previously, but a police-enforced Jew-free zone.
The Met’s Mark Rowley has been summoned to an urgent meeting with Mayor Sadiq Khan on Monday, April 22nd—the same day that calls by Jewish leaders for him to quit feature on the front page of The Daily Mail.
Khan will reportedly “grill” Rowley on the incident involving Falter, although a spokesman for the Mayor stressed that he “has full confidence in the Commissioner.”
And while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “appalled” by the police officer’s comments, the government has also made it clear that it is not threatening Rowley’s post, with one figure saying “We’re not doing that.”
The Met has made several controversial decisions relating to pro-Palestine demonstrations since Hamas’s October 7th terror attacks.
Former home secretary Suella Braverman said on Sunday that “two-tier policing has now reached the stage where a Jewish person cannot cross the road,” adding that the Met boss must “go.”
Meanwhile, ‘rank-and-file’ officers have called for greater powers which would enable them to police pro-Palestine demonstrations more robustly.
As the row raged on, The Guardian put out a piece over the weekend stating that Rowley was “likely to survive calls [for him] to quit.” And given support for him among government and opposition officials, that is probably true.
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