Jews have started to “enforce” the law themselves after police forces “turned a blind eye” to antisemitic behaviour, a major campaigner has claimed.
Chief executive of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism Gideon Falter accused officers of choosing to pursue “nonsense” instead of serious offences.
He added that his organisation has so far launched six private prosecutions in cases where the police failed to act.
Since the October 7 attacks, there has been a significant increase in anti-Jewish incidents across Britain.
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After being under-fire from campaigners, the Metropolitan Police announced that its policing policy had “evolved” and recognised that “despite our best efforts, we won’t always get every judgment right”.
In one incident, a man told a woman online that “Hitler has been proven right” following the brutal massacre.
However, police did not pass on the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) because there was “not a sufficiently strong evidential case” to pursue it.
CAAS subsequently began its own private prosecution, which was later passed onto the CPS.
The man who had made the comment later pleaded guilty to committing an offence under the Communications Act and was sentenced to pay a fine, victim surcharge, in addition to prosecution costs.
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In another case, the Metropolitan Police did not escalate a case where a man launched into an antisemitic tirade online, during which he denied that the Holocaust happened and accused Jews of “manipulating politics” and being “easy to hate”.
Despite Scotland Yard insisting that “no suspect was identified”, the suspect later pleaded guilty at his first hearing and is due to receive sentencing after CAAS launched a private prosecution against the person.
Falter said: “For over a year now, the police have turned a blind eye or even looked for reasons not to make arrests or pursue charges against extremists targeting Jews.
“Our charity has had to work non-stop to effectively do the job of the police for them, identifying perpetrators and bringing private prosecutions ourselves when we cannot convince the authorities to act.
“Recent events show that the police do have the capacity and will to act when they want to, but they too often devote their resources to nonsense.
A stock image of Metropolitan Police officersGETTY“It is outrageous that at a time of record high anti-Semitism, Jews are having to enforce the law themselves, whilst those who stand up against anti-Semitism are facing arrest and police harassment.”
In response, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Since the terror attacks in October last year we have had a dedicated policing operation in place aimed at tackling hate crime in communities, responding to significant protest, countering extremism and terrorism and working to provide reassurance, particularly in parts of London with significant Jewish populations.
“Our approach to the policing of not just protest but all offences in this area has evolved over the past 13 months, informed in large part by engagement with partners and a better understanding of the cumulative impact on the most affected communities.
Regarding the cases where private prosecutions were launched successfully, the spokesman added that the force would “consider the facts and reflect on what we might have done differently in our own investigations”.