London Cops Mobilize to Stop Anti-Semitic Crimes Amid Pro-HAMAS Rallies

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 9: Police maintain a large and visible presence as thousands of
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Neil Munro

London cops are being mobilized to suppress a feared wave of anti-Jewish crimes amid tensions spiked by the HAMAS attack on Israel, according to a report in The Times of London newspaper.

“Scotland Yard has deployed more than a thousand officers across the capital to help it deal with a spike in antisemitic hate crime, as preparations ramp up for a pro-Palestinian rally tomorrow [on Saturday],” the newspaper reported on Friday.

The level of support for HAMAS among London Muslims and secular radicals is unclear.

But the Muslim population comprises roughly one-in-six people living in London. The Muslim population has grown to 1.3 million because the two main political parties have favored diversity and mass migration. The Jewish population has dropped to roughly 265,000, according to the census.

Numerous demonstrations have already taken place since the HAMAS attack that murdered or killed more than 1,000 Jewish civilians and soldiers, starting on October 7.

Laurence Taylor, a senior officer at London’s police headquarters, told reporters:

Last year in the period of 30 September to 13 October, we saw 14 antisemitic incidents and 12 antisemitic offence. This year in that same period, we’ve seen 105 antisemitic incidents and 75 antisemitic offences. That is a massive increase in antisemitic crime and incidents … In balance, we have seen an increase in Islamophobic incidents, but nothing like the scale of the increase in antisemitism.”

The planned Saturday demonstration and celebration of HAMAS may include people carrying the flags of HAMAS, which is considered an illegal — or “proscribed” — group in British law, the newspaper noted.

Taylor, the senior police official who is expected to oversee the march told the Times newspaper:

flags could be a “hugely emotive issue” but said “the law is very clear”, adding: “If you are waving a flag in support of Hamas or other proscribed organisations, you are committing an offence and you will be arrested, full stop — there is no debate on that.

Londoners have reported some of the tensions:

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