On Sunday, a British government minister criticised as ‘completely reprehensible’ the use of the word ‘jihad’ during pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London that resulted in at least 10 arrests.
The issue is an operational matter for the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), according to Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick, who also stated that certain arrests had been made in accordance with terrorist law.
It happened after several demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war and in support of the Palestinian people took place on Saturday in London and the nearby cities of Birmingham, Cardiff, and Belfast. ‘Chanting jihad on the streets of London is completely reprehensible and I never want to see scenes like that,’ Jenrick told ‘Sky News’.
‘It is inciting terrorist violence and it needs to be tackled with the full force of the law. Ultimately, it’s an operational matter for the police and the CPS whether to press chargesâ€æ There have been arrests under terrorist legislation. And we want to do everything that we can to protect British Jews,’ he said.
The minister claimed that, in addition to legally, the problem also brought up a bigger moral dilemma. ‘And there should be a consensus in this nation that chanting things like jihad is completely reprehensible and wrong, and we don’t ever want to see that in our country,’ he continued.
The Met Police claimed in a statement that five of its officers had minor injuries and that there had been ‘pockets of disorder and some instances of hate speech’ during the demonstrations. According to the police, officers also saw a clip from a Hizb ut-Tahrir protest in which a guy can be heard yelling ‘jihad, jihad.’
‘The word has a number of meanings but we know the public will most commonly associate it with terrorism. Specialist officers have assessed the video and have not identified any offences arising from the specific clip,’ the Met Police said.
‘However, recognising the way language like this will be interpreted by the public and the divisive impact it will have, officers identified the man involved and spoke to him to discourage any repeat of similar chanting,’ the statement said.
The Met Police also has counter-terrorism officers with specialised language abilities and topic experience working with public order officers in its main operations centre, analysing footage and images that surface, in addition to the officers deployed to police the protests. The majority of the protests, according to the police, were ‘lawful and took place without incident.’
A video showing a London Tube train driver leading a ‘Free Palestine’ chant for protesters en way to a rally was circulated on social media, and the British Transport Police (BTP) said investigations are ongoing.
‘BTP are aware of footage circulating on social media which suggests chants were led by driver of a train in London earlier. BTP are working with Transport for London and investigating the matter,’ said BTP assistant chief constable Sean O’Callaghan.
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