https://arab.news/jm2ks
- Rise in hate crimes against Muslims, Jews linked to Gaza conflict
- Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner: ‘It is not acceptable and I promise we will investigate’
LONDON: London recorded a 140 percent surge in Islamophobic offenses between Oct. 1 and 18, Sky News reported on Friday.
Metropolitan Police data also showed a 1,353 percent increase in antisemitic offenses during the same period.
Hate crimes against Muslims compared to the same 18-day period last year rose from 42 to 101, while antisemitic offenses grew from 15 to 218.
The offenses resulted in 21 arrests, with the Met’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan saying: “It is not acceptable and I promise we will investigate.”
One man was held over 10 cases of alleged Islamophobic graffiti on bus stops in southwest London.
It comes amid massive pro-Palestine protests in the capital, with another major demonstration planned for Saturday.
More than 1,000 officers will be deployed by the Met to oversee the event, with London’s police force putting in place “restrictions” around the Israeli Embassy.
The chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” will likely “not be an offense and would not result in arrest,” said Adelekan.
“We are well aware of the strength of feeling in relation to it. We can see scenarios where chanting these words would be unlawful, such as outside a synagogue or a Jewish school of the other Jewish person or group intending to intimidate.”
Last weekend’s protests resulted in 15 arrests, with one person detained on suspicion of supporting a proscribed group.
The man allegedly carried a banner showing support for Hamas, which was proscribed by the UK in 2001.
The Met’s online counterterrorism unit has received 1,400 referrals relating to the Gaza conflict, with 100 of those being investigated over potential breaches of the UK’s Terrorism Act.