More than 660 prominent British Jews have called on the Metropolitan Police to reverse a ban on a planned pro-Palestine protest outside the BBC headquarters in London later this week.
Prominent legal, cultural and academic figures are among hundreds of British Jews calling on the police to reverse the decision to prevent the pro-Palestine rally outside the state-run British media outlet on January 18.
The most prominent members of the Jewish community opposing the police decision include Rabbi Jeffrey Newman, writer and director Adam Gantz, Professors Moshe Machover and Jacqueline Rose, writer/comedian Alexei Sayle, Holocaust survivors, including Stephen Kapos, and their descendants.
In a statement on Monday, the Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) also criticized the ban as bowing to “partisan campaigning aimed at preventing peaceful and lawful assembly”.
The group said the police faced “strong pressure from pro-Israel organizations” who claimed that Palestine solidarity protests pose a threat to synagogue congregations.
“This evidence-free claim is robustly contradicted by the large Jewish Bloc visible on every major demonstration since the genocide began in October 2023,” the statement noted.
“As Jews, we are shocked at this brazen attempt to interfere with hard-won political freedoms by conjuring up an imaginary threat to Jewish freedom of worship.”
“As Jews, we are shocked at this brazen attempt to interfere with hard-won political freedoms by conjuring up an imaginary threat to Jewish freedom of worship,” it added.
