Watchdog: London a ‘No-Go’ Zone for Jews at Weekends

Undated photo of protesters in Parliament Square during a pro-Palestine march in London. (James Manning/PA)

London has become off-limits to Jewish people every weekend because of pro-Palestine protests, the watchdog for countering extremism has said.

Robin Simcox, the government’s independent commissioner for countering extremism, wrote in The Telegraph on Thursday that anti-Semitism is “skyrocketing” and that London had become a “no-go zone for Jews every weekend.”

Mr. Simcox said that protests had become “ever more vociferous, with ‘from the river to the sea’ beamed onto the side of Big Ben during a vote on Gaza.”

Last month, the Jewish charity the Community Security Trust (CST) reported that the UK had recorded its highest volume in anti-Semitic incidents in 40 years, with two-thirds occurring on or after Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the deadly terror attack in Israel.

The CST noted that incident totals in Westminster ranked higher than in previous years, correlating the rise to the location being used for many anti-Israel protests. The charity said that these marches “attracted individuals who were reported for antisemitic placards or hate speech.”

“It was also the site of many of the vigils for Hamas’ victims, which were sometimes targeted by passers-by with anti-Jewish activity. In total, at least 44 of the Westminster-based incidents took place at, or on the way to or from, anti-Israel protests or vigils for the hostages, and two occurred at public Menorah lightings,” the report said.

Government Has ‘More Power to Tackle Extremism’ Than It Thinks

Warning that extremist networks had become “emboldened” since the Hamas terror attacks on Oct. 7 and that radical groups had “gone unchallenged for too long,” the counter-extremism watchdog said that the “government has more power to tackle extremism than it sometimes thinks.”

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He suggested that the government has the legislative ability to challenge hostile foreign actors from operating on British soil, writing: “After all, the Iranian government does not have an inalienable right to run schools and mosques in our capital city. It is not an unalterable democratic principle that Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood must be allowed to run a multitude of charities.

“We have not betrayed democracy if extremists are no longer able to operate television channels. And we will not have become an authoritarian state if London is no longer permitted to be turned into a no-go zone for Jews every weekend.”

“All these things and more have become normalised in the UK,” Mr. Simcox wrote, continuing that “it is why I have warned of a permissive environment for radicalisation developing that needs urgently addressing.”

‘Blindspot’ on Hamas’s Support Network

The commissioner for countering extremism also voiced his support for the recommendations of Sir William Shawcross’s Independent Review of Prevent—the government’s counter-extremism strategy—published last year, saying that the government has a “blindspot” on Hamas’s support network in the UK.

One year on, Sir William reiterated his recommendation that authorities “should pay much more attention to the Hamas support network” in the UK.

“There are unfortunately quite a lot of Hamas sympathisers and some operatives in this country,” Sir William said, adding, “Prevent and the police should have been working much harder against those Hamas people in this country.”

Mr. Simcox continued in his Telegraph comment piece that the government “must now double down on Shawcross’s approach,” saying, “That means government should move faster, be bolder, and be willing to accept higher legal risk if it means implementing policies that keep us safer.”

He explained that this was pertinent “when it comes to disrupting the activities of those groups who propagate extremist narratives but who lurk just below the terrorism threshold.”

“These groups have gone unchallenged for too long,” Mr. Simcox wrote, warning that “they are now embedded and influential among communities.”

The ‘Poison’ of Extremism

Mr. Simcox’s comments come after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned on March 2 of the “poison” of extremism, saying he feared the UK, “a patriotic, liberal, democratic society with a proud past and a bright future,” is “being deliberately undermined.”

The prime minister also said that Britain’s streets had been “hijacked by small groups who are hostile to our values and have no respect for our democratic traditions.”

Mr. Sunak said the government would introduce “a new robust framework” on dealing with extremism. He said he would bar those who seek to undermine British values from entering the country and demand “universities stop extremist activity on campus,” as well as redouble support for Prevent.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Commission for Countering Extremism and the Metropolitan Police for comment.