British Jewish Leader Accused of Deliberately Provoking Altercation with Police to Fabricate Claims Of Anti-Semitism And Then Cynically Demanding Firing of London Police Chief, During Pro-Palestine Protest
Reports suggest one of Gideon Falter’s entourage was connected with Israeli intelligence Mossad and had been a bodyguard for the Israeli President during a recent UK visit
Claims by the Chief Executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), that he was mistreated by London Police, accused of being “openly Jewish” and that being Jewish was a ‘crime’ is being challenged after new facts emerge about his encounter with Met police officers earlier this month.
Gideon Falter had claimed that police stopped him from crossing a road while he inadvertently happened to encounter a pro-Palestine march in London on April 13.
However, a substantial number of eyewitness accounts, along with photographic and video evidence, casts doubt on his claims' accuracy. The antisemitism campaigner is now facing accusations of attempting to "provoke" an incident to justify banning the protests.
Ben Jamal, the Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and organizer of the march, said Falter was a hardline professional agitator who opposed any free speech supporting Gaza. He noted he arrived with a group of four to five people and a film crew, attempting to break through and create a disturbance.
"Since the marches began, they have tried to stop them, and they have even called for the army to be brought onto the streets to halt the marches," Jamal added. "Now they are resorting to the tactic of attending the marches to provoke an incident, so they can claim there is disorder and argue against allowing the marches to proceed. These are disgraceful tactics. Anyone who believes in the right to protest and democratic freedoms should reject them."
CAA was established in 2014 during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, which resulted in the deaths of over 2000 Palestinians and 73 Israelis. The organization is responsible for releasing the heavily edited video of Falter in his kippah (religious Jewish headwear) as he tries to navigate through police officers to cross the path of the Pro-Palestinian central London demonstration. This led to claims that Falter was obstructed in his activities solely because of his Jewish identity.
But it was the edits which showed a police officer saying he was “openly Jewish" that caused outrage after a longer 13-minute version of the exchange came to light. Falter's now-deleted video depicts the officer informing him he "took it upon himself" to deliberately walk "right into the middle" of the march, and accused him of being "disingenuous" and attempting to "antagonize" others.
However, the officer initially said, “I'm not saying it's because you are visibly Jewish” in the longer video.
After a huge outcry, exploited by Falter doing the media rounds, the Met initially issued an apology which was withdrawn after facing criticism for victim-blaming for calling out Falter's conduct. They then released a second statement accepting that "being Jewish is not a provocation" and apologized once again.
Despite the Home Office issuing a statement welcoming the Met's apology for the incident, Falter remained unsatisfied and called for the resignation of the Met chief, Sir Mark Rowley.
Under pressure, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak insisted he still had confidence in the Police Commissioner. However, he emphasized that he would have to rebuild "confidence and trust" with the Jewish community.
CAA and Falter ‘Have Other Objectives’
Unfortunately for Falter the bubble soon burst when the truth was revealed.
The Police Commissioner reversed, praising his officers and others joined in support. Lord John Mann, the Independent Adviser to the UK Government on Antisemitism, refuted claims that the police had behaved inappropriately and said that Falter and the CAA "have other objectives in this" and "are not playing it straight," noting how, despite being an expert on 'antisemitism,' he has been blocked by the organization's social media for the past six months.
Former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent Dal Babu joined the fray, saying if he were policing the march, he would have considered arresting Falter for "assault on a police officer and a breach of the peace." Babu stated that the full video was "very revealing" and showed great restraint from the officers.
Babu added, “They offered to take him to a crossing point, they offered to help him and the group he was with the opportunity to cross at a more appropriate place. So the narrative that’s been pushed for the past few days is not accurate.”
The Community Security Trust (CST), an organization that monitors anti-Jewish abuse and attacks and provides security for UK Jewish communities, also broadly supported police efforts, "We recognize the extra support the police offer our community. We understand why it's necessary and appreciate that it's usually handled with the professionalism expected, often without grabbing headlines."
Revealed: Details of Discrepancies in Falter’s Narrative
According to his account, Falter claims to have been walking with friends after attending Sabbath and randomly came across the marchers. However, video evidence suggests that at least some of these individuals were bodyguards and a videographer. (In most traditions, it is against Jewish tradition to use electronic devices on the Sabbath.)
Indeed reports suggest that one of the individuals was a bodyguard who had been seen accompanying Israel's president and ambassador during a recent UK visit, which undermines claims this was a casual outing. Falter is being accused of anticipating a violent altercation and thus coming prepared with trained professional security.
Falter's "dishonest antics" and claims that he was being prevented from being there because he was Jewish were also undermined by the fact that hundreds of Jews were waving Israeli flags and counter-protesting. They were in a separate group which he was invited by officers to join. Also, there were hundreds of Jewish people who were part of the pro-Palestine demonstrations, opposing Israel's actions in Gaza.
“Listening now to the full account of the ‘openly Jewish’ incident,” tweeted ex-Times journalist David Aaronovitch, “It is apparent that Gideon Falter was angling for an incident just like this.”
Many critics have pointed out had any Pro-Palestinian protesters behaved in the way Falter did, who repeatedly pushed officers to breach their cordon, they would have been immediately arrested. Former crown prosecutor Nazir Afzal said, “Having now seen the longer video of the police interaction with Gideon Falter, I see that we have been misled,” he wrote, “The officer may have been more careful with his words, but Mr. Falter was provocative to the point that an arrest for breach of the peace might have been justified.”
