Fourteen people were arrested for violence and disorder while protesting an Israeli real estate event in London’s Edgware United Synagogue on Sunday.
The Met Police confirmed that a total of 14 arrests were made: five for violent disorder (one person also arrested for assault on an emergency worker); six for Section 4a Public Order Act offenses (four of those for racial or religiously aggravated matters); one for Section 18 Public Order Act offenses; one for assault on an emergency worker, and one for common assault.
The anti-Israel protest had congregated at the synagogue after learning of the planned Great Israeli Real Estate Event, which they claimed involved selling off properties in the West Bank, and therefore, in “occupied territory” (they cited the areas of Ma’aleh Adumim and Gush Etzion).
The protests against the event were coordinated by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Jewish Bloc for Palestine UK, and International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, which served a formal legal notice to Edgware United Synagogue, warning it of reputational and legal risks.
'Organisers are using a place of worship as cover for potentially criminal activity'
PSC said that the fact that “the event has been relocated to a synagogue is disturbing, suggesting that organizers are using a place of worship as cover for potentially criminal activity.”
Then, on Friday, over 100 UK lawmakers wrote to the foreign secretary calling for the event to be canceled, saying that it was “firmly embedded in Israel’s project of colonial expansion by facilitating the sale of land that has been stolen from Palestinians.”
Allegations are 'motivated by anti-Israeli and terrorist supporters'
My Home in Israel, which organized the event, said that all properties being marketed were located within Israel’s internationally recognized borders and that allegations of West Bank land being sold at the event were “motivated by anti-Israeli and terrorist supporters.”
Ultimately, the event went ahead, but not without significant counterprotest.
Police estimated that around 1,000 demonstrators and counterprotesters were involved, and officers of the Met, as well as Community Security Trust, were required to separate the two groups.
Hundreds of Jewish residents, joined by groups including Stop the Hate, worked to create a human barrier to stop the pro-Palestinian activists from reaching the synagogue itself. They were mostly successful. However, a protester from the Jewish Bloc for Palestine UK managed to infiltrate the event and interrupt it with chants before being escorted out by attendees.
Pro-Palestinian protesters outside could be heard chanting, “Zionists watch your back; we will be coming back.”
Adrian Cohen, the acting president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said he was “deeply disturbed at the wholly unjustified protest.”
“The event organizers have publicly refuted claims that the event is marketing real estate over the Green Line.”
“Protesting at a synagogue based on false pretenses seems to be little more than an excuse to harass and intimidate members of the Jewish community,” he said.