A Jewish lawyer wearing a Star of David was arrested after police claimed the symbol “antagonised” pro-Palestine protesters.
Footage obtained by the Telegraph shows a detective appearing to accuse the man of wearing the symbol in a way that could cause “offence” and potentially be “antagonising” in close proximity to protesters.
“The officers have noted in their statement that they believe that because the Star of David was out and present to people, which may take either offence to the presence of it, they felt that was antagonising the situation,” the detective says.
“I think that’s, with respect, appalling and shows a complete ignorance on behalf of those officers,” the lawyer responds.
The Star of David was displayed on a silver chain around his neck.
The man, in his 40s, was arrested at around 7pm on August 29 during a pro-Palestine demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy in Kensington, central London.
He maintains that he was acting as an independent legal observer, monitoring the protest for any unlawful behaviour by demonstrators and scrutinising the conduct of police.
The arrest reportedly followed accusations from officers that he was antagonising protesters.
"It is outrageous that police should claim wearing a star of David somehow antagonises people," the man told The Telegraph.
“When it was first raised in the police interview, it rang alarm bells for me immediately. Police crossed the line.”
He was taken to Hammersmith police station for questioning and released at 4:30am the following morning.
The Metropolitan Police have denied that the man's arrest was related to the Star of David, stating he was detained for allegedly “repeatedly breaching” an order intended to keep opposing protest groups apart.
According to police, he came “very close” to pro-Palestine protesters on multiple occasions, and his behaviour allegedly went “beyond observing to provoking”.
As a result, they classified him as “actively participating as a protester”, which made him subject to the conditions of the Public Order Act.
Posting on X, the force said: "We understand the concerns raised, but the claim this man was arrested for wearing a star of David necklace is not true."He was arrested for allegedly repeatedly breaching Public Order Act conditions that were in place to keep opposing protest groups apart.
"The conditions required protesters from the pro-Israel group Stop The Hate to remain in one area with protesters from the pro-Palestinian group Ijan required to remain in a separate area.
"The man told officers he was acting as an independent legal observer but his actions are alleged to have breached the conditions in place, and to have gone beyond observing in an independent and neutral way to provoking and, as such, actively participating as a protester.
"Over the course of an hour, the man is alleged to have continuously approached the area allocated to Ijan, getting very close to protesters to film them and provoking a reaction."Officers had to intervene at least four times to ask the man to return to the Stop the Hate area as required by the conditions.
"When he failed to do so after multiple warnings, he was arrested. "He was released on bail and the investigation continues.
"The clipped footage released, in which officers question the man's status and actions as an independent legal observer, is six minutes of an hour-long interview.
"We can fully appreciate why this clip in isolation causes concern and we are continuing to review and work with communities to understand the concerns they have voiced."
