A Jewish protester has hit out after he faced charges of racially aggravated harassment, which were later dropped, for holding a placard depicting a Hezbollah leader.
The British man says he was arrested for holding the sign featuring a drawing of then-Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah holding a pager to his face with the words “beep, beep, beep”.
The cartoon, which he describes as “political satire”, referred to a September 2024 Israeli attack nicknamed Operation Grim Beeper, in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by the Lebanese group, a proscribed terror organisation in the UK, detonated simultaneously, killing dozens of people and injuring thousands.
The protester’s home was raided and he was held overnight at a police station after he held the sign, which he says did not belong to him, at a Stop the Hate counter-protest against a pro-Palestine march in Swiss Cottage, north-west London, on 20 September last year.
He was later charged under the Public Order Act of causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress by words or writing. But eight months later, the charges were dropped, he said, with Crown Prosecution Service saying there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction.
The protester, who has not been named, described the Metropolitan Police as “completely out of their depth” in their policing of regular pro-Palestine marches since the 7 October attacks as he relived his experience in an interview with The Telegraph.
Footage of his police interview, published by the outlet, show an officer asking him: “Do you think that showing this image to persons protesting who are clearly pro-Hezbollah and anti-Israel ... would stir up racial hatred further than it is already?”
The man’s lawyer responded: “Are you saying that there were pro-Hezbollah people there? Because it is a proscribed terrorist organisation.”
The Met Police have said the officer who interviewed the protester “clearly misspoke” when she described the pro-Palestine demonstrators as “pro-Hezbollah”.
The counter protester said: “It beggars belief that police could think that this placard may be offensive to supporters of Hezbollah.
“If there are Hezbollah supporters at these marches, then why weren’t charges brought against them for terrorist offences, rather than me being charged for holding a sign that can only be construed as political satire?
“The Met Police are still completely out of their depth when it comes to policing the anti-Israel hate marches we’ve seen on our streets week in, week out since the 7 October attacks.”
Responding to the incident, shadow home secretary Chris Philp described it as an example of “two-tier policing”.
“In recent times, the police have failed to act when confronted with protesters calling for jihad and intifada in London,” he told The Telegraph.
“Yet this man was apparently arrested because he might have offended supporters of a banned terrorist organisation.”
He added: “The police sometimes turn a blind eye when applying the law might be difficult, yet over-police at other times. The law should be applied equally to all, robustly and without fear or favour.”
A spokesperson for the Met Police said: “A man was charged following a careful consideration of the evidence. We will reflect on the CPS decision not to proceed with the case, applying any learning to future investigations.
“The officer who interviewed the man clearly misspoke when she described those in the protest as pro-Hezbollah instead of pro-Palestinian.”
The spokesperson added: “We take support for proscribed organisations very seriously.
“Since October 2023, we have made 28 arrests under the Terrorism Act for offences at protests, including wearing clothing or displaying symbols that indicated support for such groups, including Hezbollah. This is in addition to the hundreds of arrests made for other offences.”
A spokesperson from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “We take any allegations of criminality associated with protests seriously, and balance this against the right to peaceful and lawful protests when determining if an offence has been committed.
“We recognise the need for all communities to have confidence in our prosecutorial decisions and we will continue to work with those affected by the ongoing protests.”
