Fury as Met Police tell Jewish woman swastikas ‘might not’ be antisemitic

Footage circulating online appears to show an officer telling the woman the symbol might ‘need to be taken in context’ (Picture: Twitter/Emily Schrader)

A Met Police officer can be seen in a video shared online appearing to tell a woman that swastikas being antisemitic might depend on ‘context.’

Taken during the pro-Palestine march in London this weekend, the video features an activist asking officers why a protester showing the Nazi-associated symbol at the rally had not been arrested. 

One of the officers says that the swastikas were ‘not necessarily antisemitic or a disruption of public order’, with two others refusing to acknowledge its anti-Jewish connotations. 

In response, the woman says: ‘If someone is carrying a sign with a swastika, you said you wouldn’t arrest them on the spot, it would have to be investigated online?’

The officers then say that ‘everything needs to be taken in context.’

Shown the footage by MailOnline, a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘This interaction is absolutely gobsmacking. 

‘The very notion that a British police officer could imagine a context in which the Nazi swastika is an acceptable image to be displayed in public is distressing enough, but for him to be uncertain about its meaning in the context of a march oozing with antisemitic rhetoric and signage is an indictment of the Met.

‘This is less the fault of a solitary officer than it is of Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who has bent over backwards to rationalise and ‘contextualise’ calls for violent Jihad and genocidal chanting. 

‘If Sir Mark disagrees with this officer’s assessment, he should come out and say so and explain what training he will provide to his officers to ensure that they are clear that Nazism is bad.

Rallies calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were held yesterday near Trafalgar Square in London (Picture: Getty)

But if he agrees that the swastika is context-dependent, let him tell that to the hundreds of thousands of Britons who gave their lives to prevent that despicable symbol from ever being flown on the streets of London.’

The Met Police has since issued a statement that reads: ‘We’re aware of an online clip from today’s protest in central London showing an interaction between an officer and a woman during which there is an exchange over concern around protestors displaying offensive banners, including swastikas.

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‘The online clip is a short excerpt of what was a 10-minute conversation with the officer. During the full conversation, the officer establishes that the person the woman was concerned about had already been arrested for a public order offence in relation to a placard.

‘The officer then offered to arrange for other officers to attend and accompany the woman to identify any other persons she was concerned about amongst the protestors, but after turning to speak to his supervisor, she then unfortunately left.

‘We take hate crime and public order offences very seriously and a number of people were arrested during today’s protest for hate crimes, public order and terrorist offences. We are also gathering and assessing evidence with a view to making further arrests where we identify any other offences.’

The Met added: ”We take hate crime and public order offences very seriously and a number of people were arrested during today’s protest for hate crimes, public order and terrorist offences.

‘We are also gathering and assessing evidence with a view to making further arrests where we identify any other offences. If anyone is aware of any other evidence of people with offensive banners or material, let us know’

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