An openly Jewish man wearing a skull cap was trying to cross the road where a pro Palestine march was taking place. He was stopped by a Met Officer who threatened to arrest the man for breaching the peace because of his openly Jewish appearance. He was merely trying to cross the road. Yes tensions run high amongst these demonstrations, but this person is a citizen going about their daily life. Why should the onus be on him to disappear, surely that onus should be on the demonstrators not to target individuals to take out any grievances. Possibly the Officer was trying to head off any clashes, but I think there is something worryingly wrong and discriminatory in telling a demographic, any demographic, they are not free to move about on the streets of their own country.
Your thoughts on the matter.
Seems to have been a spot of bother at the St George's day March in London today.
AGAA4 - sorry if I seemed to make assumptions. I’m northwest mining areas, my dad’s former colleague at dad’s funeral singled out the Met for waving wage slips and abuse at the miners. His disgust was evident.
There wasn’t the hostility between local bobbies and miners that developed when the Met arrived sneering and provoking
GSM, I agree with your latest post expressing your views on the Sergeant involved with GF. Sergeants like him are so important, years of experience and a calm strong presence
Good grief, a police officer in the Met, certainly not a new recruit , doubt it was his first march, very much doubt he was
stressed. I have my opinions, views and beliefs, don’t tell others how they should think or why they think as they do,
No problem Iam64 I remember how annoyed my DH was on behalf of the miners but they tried to do the job as peacefully as possible.
twitter.com/LBC/status/1782115230132162916?t=wt0XUi2abqJCRX4MSD8xuA&s=19
GF doesn't blame the front line officers. This is what he says about it.
Charging on horseback at miners was not as peaceful as possible, I am realistic, there are some great police officers but not all are, same as in every walk of life
Thank you Parsley
Annie, I agree with you wholeheartedly.
The police officer was doing his job which involves dealing with far more obstructive and aggressive people than Gideon Falter, and his words were ill-chosen and inappropriate. He most certainly is not a victim, and I am not impressed by Mark Rowley's comments today either.
The views you have expressed about this policeman are quite abhorrent Annie. I get the impression that you have it in for the Met. This is just one man trying to do his best to do his duty in a very difficult situation. You can think what you like but I find your stated opinion that he is antisemitic, because he didn’t choose two words carefully enough for you during this long exchange, disgraceful. I would have expected better of you.
He's an educated man and realises that the front line police are just doing their job with orders from people way above thier rank. Strange then that many on here are blaming the police when GF himself doesn't.
eazbee Rowley thinks some remarks from the police officer were offensive, I say the same, seems everyone agrees with me !
Rowley isn’t going anywhere, he has the mayors full support,
election for London mayor soon
Too little too late parsley. GF’s edited video constituted condemnation of the officer who was trying to protect him, and he has called for the resignation of the Met Commissioner. It has been shown upthread that he has previously discredited himself, trying to get a civil servant sacked. The Sky video showed the truth of the matter. No point in trying to row back now.
Anniebach
eazbee Rowley thinks some remarks from the police officer were offensive, I say the same, seems everyone agrees with me !
Rowley isn’t going anywhere, he has the mayors full support,
election for London mayor soon
Everyone seems to agree with you? I don’t think so. Try reading the thread.
GSM
The views you have expressed about this policeman are quite abhorrent Annie. I get the impression that you have it in for the Met. This is just one man trying to do his best to do his duty in a very difficult situation. You can think what you like but I find your stated opinion that he is antisemitic, because he didn’t choose two words carefully enough for you during this long exchange, disgraceful. I would have expected better of you.
Who are you to lecture Annie on her views? You find her comments disgraceful because the officer didn’t choose two words carefully enough for her???
He didn’t choose his words carefully enough for thousands of people otherwise there wouldn’t be such a furore.
Annie doesn’t have to pander to your sensibilities so I suggest it’s you that should modify your posts not Annie.
AGAA4 Tue 23-Apr-24 17:23:34
He's an educated man and realises that the front line police are just doing their job with orders from people way above thier rank. Strange then that many on here are blaming the police when GF himself doesn't.
I form my own opinions, I doubt anyone believes those on the ground make the decisions, my criticism of the police officer
is of the ‘openly Jewish’ comment
Thousands of people? Even after the Sky video, showing the entire exchange rather than GF’s deliberately misleading version? Who are these thousands of people? What evidence do you have of thousands of people not having changed their minds after they were shown what really happened?
My sensibilities? Nasty slurring of a police officer doing his duty? You are obviously quite happy with that. I hope you are never in need of the protection he afforded to GF and his mates.
Saying someone is openly Jewish is clumsy at best, ignorant at worst, he should not have said it.
If the police officer had said openly black or openly muslim we would be having an entirely different conversation along with protests outside police stations.
He gave his views, it’s how he thinks
We all have our views and have expressed them on this thread, but above it all, I feel sorry for the ordinary Jewish citizens in this country who find themselves caught up in a situation not of their making. Most of them probably stay indoors on Saturdays, apart from a visit to their synagogue if they’re religious. Today is Passover I believe, and I wish this awful situation would pass over as soon as possible.
GrannyGravy13
Saying someone is openly Jewish is clumsy at best, ignorant at worst, he should not have said it.
If the police officer had said openly black or openly muslim we would be having an entirely different conversation along with protests outside police stations.
Are you sure? In those circumstances, the police officer might not say it, but you can bet that's what (s)he'd be thinking?
Given that this man and his bodyguards had been observed trying to get himself into the crowd and had been hanging around for a while (he wasn't just on a walk home), what do you think the police should have done?
Anniebach
He gave his views, it’s how he thinks
You can’t possibly say what he thinks based on his having said ‘openly Jewish’. You have pounced on the word ‘openly’ but you know exactly what he meant - marchers were shouting antisemitic words at GF, who was clearly Jewish, and his supporters and the policeman knew that if they walked into the march, he being very obviously Jewish, he and his friends were at great risk of being harmed. If the policeman was an antisemite he would just have left them to take their chances - but he didn’t, he tried to keep them from harm. How many times have I said that? I wonder how many policemen, under pressure and faced with those particular circumstances, would have spoken words which satisfied you Annie? It isn’t a time for social niceties. It’s a time for carrying out their duty to protect the public, no matter how difficult the public may be.
growstuff George Galloway says similar to you
growstuff
GrannyGravy13
Saying someone is openly Jewish is clumsy at best, ignorant at worst, he should not have said it.
If the police officer had said openly black or openly muslim we would be having an entirely different conversation along with protests outside police stations.Are you sure? In those circumstances, the police officer might not say it, but you can bet that's what (s)he'd be thinking?
Given that this man and his bodyguards had been observed trying to get himself into the crowd and had been hanging around for a while (he wasn't just on a walk home), what do you think the police should have done?
Exactly, growstuff. Some are trying to defend the indefensible.
Anniebach
He gave his views, it’s how he thinks
So how else does somebody wearing a kippah look?
The police officer was concerned for the safety of a man who had been observed acting strangely.
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