in World News UK Police Threaten to Arrest an ‘Openly Jewish Man’ for Walking Near Palestinian Protest
In the years after the Nazis took power in 1933, they instituted hundreds of laws and policies at the national, state and local levels to systematically remove Jews from German society. Bans were placed on Jews working as doctors and lawyers and in other professions, and quotas were set, limiting Jews in schools and universities.
By 1935 Nazi-institutionalized anti-Semitism had stripped Jews of their German citizenship and barred them from municipal hospitals, legal practice, the military and even World War I memorials, effectively excommunicating them from civic life and laying the groundwork for the Nazis’ future escalation to even more severe anti-Semitic persecution, according to the Holocaust Memorial Museum.
It’s tempting to look back at the dark days of 1930s Germany under the Nazis as a distant chapter in history when ignorance and racism fueled by hateful rhetoric were allowed to contaminate an entire society and national leadership. We want to believe that could never happen again in modern times.
But a video shared by Campaign Against Antisemitism from a pro-Palestinian march in London reveals a scene that could have been right out of the 1930s.
In the video taken during the protest in central London, an officer can be seen blocking the path of Gideon Falter, a Jewish man wearing a kippah, a religious head covering, asking him to stay in place while the protesters march, according to the BBC.
Falter, who is the chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism said he was simply walking around London after synagogue, according to the BBC.
“I don’t want to stay here, I want to leave,” Falter replied, after being blocked by the officer.
“In that case sir, when the crowd is gone, I will happily escort you out,” the officer responded.
When Falter tried to move past the police officer, the officer blocked his path, preventing him from leaving.
“I don’t want anybody antagonizing anybody …” the officer said as Falter protested, saying, “I just want to walk across …”
“At the moment sir, you are quite openly Jewish,” the officer responded. “This is a pro-Palestinian march. I am not accusing you of anything, but I am worried about the reaction to your presence,” the officer said.
Later in the video, another police officer attempted to defuse the situation, explaining to Falter that they were just trying to protect him.
“Do you have any idea what it’s like being a Jew in London at the moment?” Falter asked the officer.