A London borough’s annual Hanukkah candle lighting was protested by anti-Israel activists, leading British Jewish groups to criticize law enforcement about their response to demonstrations of Jewish religious events.
The 14th annual Islington Menorah Lighting at Islington Green featured traditional holiday cuisine, performances by techno-klezmer band GhettoPlotz, and holiday greetings by Islington Mayor Anjna Khurana and Islington South MP Emily Thornberry.
However, according to a Chabad Lubavitch of Islington statement, a political protest was held within five meters of participants, families, and children being served drinks.
Three pro-Palestinian activists demonstrated at the candle lighting, the Metropolitan Police said, in a spontaneous protest. While no criminal offenses were identified at the time, the MET said they were continuing to assess if criminal offenses occurred and would update community representatives. Officers had spoken to the event organizers when the protest occurred.
Met officers, Community Security Trust representatives, and private security were present, but the Chabad and NGO Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) expressed dissatisfaction with the policing of the Islington Council-funded public celebration.
“Police claimed that it was outside of their powers to have the protestors moved to a further distance,” said Chabad Islington. “This is despite the protest associating local Islington Jews to an international agenda.”
Police handling of the incident
The Chabad chapter said it had worked with CAA to log a formal complaint about the handling of the incident.“The religious occasion was targeted by Palestine protesters. Nobody is surprised that supposedly ‘anti-Israel’ protesters would target a Jewish religious ceremony, because by now everyone sees through their ‘we’re not antisemitic’ charade.
Everyone, that is, except for the police,” CAA said on X/Twitter. “For the Metropolitan Police to stand by and ignore complaints, while Jews were being targeted at a religious event, is outrageous.”
The Met said Monday that they recognized “the impact pro-Palestine protests have had on the Jewish community and understand the sensitivities of balancing the right to lawfully protest alongside the safety and well-being of the community.”
The incident comes at a time of increasingly vocal criticism of British law enforcement by UK Jews about their response to anti-Israel protests.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis criticized the Met for failing to prevent the development of plans for a January 18 anti-Israel march to come close to local London synagogues.
The Met responded to the criticism last Monday, assuring that the policing plan had not yet been finalized and no route had been agreed upon.
“We know the cumulative impact of more than a year of regular protest on London’s Jewish communities has been significant. This continues to inform our approach to policing protests, particularly when organizers request routes which pass by locations such as synagogues and at significant times of year,” the Met said.
“When we have heard from all those potentially impacted by the march on January 18, and explored options with the PSC [Palestine Solidarity Campaign], we will announce any conditions we decide to impose.”