Is "openly Jewish" a hate crime under the April Fools Scottish hate crime law?

It’s hideous being Jewish at the moment. I’ve always been at the end of casual racism, even though I’m not visibly Jewish, whatever that means - the hatred towards a country that is no worse or better than many other countries is only because it’s a Jewish country. People can deny it all they want - but it’s true.

Apparently Pro-Palestinian marches have nothing to do with anti semitism - and yet a surprising number of participants ( and the police too, it seems) have a hard time knowing the difference between different things - as they slip side between hating on Israel, to hating on 'zionists', to hating on Jews.

this.

So far as I can see, Gideon Falter was making the point that these marches contain antisemitic elements. And he made it: the police were afraid that he wasn't safe.

It's bloody shocking. I have Jewish friends and I worry for them now as I never have before.

Did they actually arrest the man?
Is this for real?

That is also shocking!

I can hardly fathom that jewish citizens of London who try to counterprotest the pro-Palestine protests which definitely have elements of antisemitism to them, are accosted like this.
It is heartbreaking

‘Or when she went totally batshit and implied one of the marches was going to disrupt the Rememberance Day events, although the march that day was no where near any of the ceremonies’

It wasn’t going near the Cenotaph after the Police forced the organisers to change the route. That’s not quite the same.

Not buying that. I accept they needed to protect him but they wouldn't have said

Openly Muslim, openly gay.

I'm going to try and play the both sides here a little.
The policeman in my opinion did genuinely fear for the safety and life of the Jewish man if he got close to the protestors. I agree with the policeman on this I do believe the life of the Jewish man would have been at risk.

I think this is right. The Met know full well that an openly Jewish person is at risk of harm from elements within these marches but they don't have the officers on the ground to keep them safe if it kicks off so they attempt to remove the individual at risk because it's 1000% easier than dealing with the actual problem.

Police in Scotland decided that there was hate crime in an SNP member posting a Star of David intertwined with a swastika.

They said it couldn't be a hate crime because the person who reported it wasn't Jewish. They were wrong in the interpretation of the law (the complaint doesn't have to be from a person with the protected characteristic)

They were also wrong in fact. Nobody with a working brain cell would deny it was hateful.

Some of the people commenting should be utterly ashamed of themselves. You may think you can hide your dislike of Jews/Israel/whatever and somehow justify blatant racism - but Jews see it. We see right through it. We are not naive, it was only 80 years ago that millions of normal citizens of Europe were slaughtered in the streets and towns while their neighbours watched, cheered or did nothing.
We don’t believe that the innate jealously and hatred has gone anywhere, we know it’s still there. But today with Israel in the situation it is, and with Jews being a tiny minority - these views are being given legitimacy. You can use the word Zionist if it makes you feel better, but it means the same thing. I’m not surprised but I am sad. Jews (And Israelis) have contributed so much to society yet they are hated for being successful or whatever.
Some of you need to check yourselves well, and address your deep seated antisemitism and question - why do I feel like this about Jews and not about blacks, Muslims, whatever.
Shame on you.

Ha ha I can see that going well. The Met must have hard drives full of evidence that these marches harbour many extremist islamists and anti-semetic individuals who would undoubtably pose a risk to "openly jewish" people in the area.

Jews should be perfectly able to live and participate in society in the UK, without fear.

When did London move to Scotland?

This is horrific, but unsurprising. Every day we see yet more evidence of why Jews need their own country. These marches are absolutely terrifying, most especially because it is very clear the state is unable to stop them. So we just have to accept that we are now a country where violent anti-Semites openly crawl the streets and Jews have to hide away in fear. I am so, so ashamed of what we've become.

I think he was being provocative. I also think he was right and courageous. Why should jewish people meekly accept being gaslit. These marches are antisemitic and jewish people aren't safe because of them. Well done that man for highlighting the truth.

Hi

I must admit I thought that might also be the case when I drafted my reply last night but I could only find a definite reference to the situation in state run schools and also full face veils.

We’re not a million km from Lourdes and as a result you certainly on occasions see nuns traveling around on public transport.

It’s such a bizarre take. Would they think this for a Muslim or black person

A group threatens someone for looking a certain way and it’s not the attackers’ problem?

Would it be a setup to manufacture sympathy if the man was "openly Muslim "? Or does that only apply to Jews?

" ... Gideon Falter, who heads up the Campaign Against Antisemitism, was pulled aside by police while trying to cross the road in the middle of a Gaza rally in London last Saturday.

Mr Falter said: “Britain is rightly proud of its values of tolerance and decency, and we cannot as a society accept that this is now going to be the norm.”

He said he was not criticising the frontline officers who are “put in impossible positions week in, week out”, but called on the Met Police to curtail the marches or ban them altogether. ... "

This is another version of what happened, via the Sun.

Or maybe they had intel about certain members or groups within the march.

It is the policeman who is implying that the march is made up of violent anti-semitic people.

Maybe the march organisers could sue the Met.

All of this, yes. But I'm assuming the police had good reason to believe there were anti-Jewish people among the protesters and that this chap was at risk of harm. Like @IwantToRetire, I've been warned off (with threat of arrest) volatile situations where cops thought I could be at risk. They're there to keep the peace.

It wasn't well expressed in the moment, obviously. And the police do get things wrong sometimes, equally obviously. Maybe that chap was in no danger, I don't know - and neither does he.

It's as naïve to suppose that all of those demonstrators are against Israeli policy but not Jews, as to suppose that no pro-Israel activists are against all Arabs or Muslims. There are unreasonable people everywhere and, sadly, some of them are looking for excuses to be violent.

You have chosen not to read what I actually wrote.

The policeman was explaining why he thought it wouldn't be safe for the man to go near the demo.

It was not and I did not say it was about someone in a day to day way walking down the street.

The policeman trying to stop the potential violence has no relationship to being ashamed.

What are you trying to achieve by twisting what I have said.

It is as others have said, standard policing practice where there are "opposing" groups.

And lets face it, being "openly Black" is a day to day problem because as we all know if you are Black you are more likely to be stop and searched.

That is any everyday occurance.

A one off occurance in the proximity of a large march that the policeman categorised as violent isn't.

Sometimes something is just what it is. Not very competent police not being very competent let alone being aware of nuance.

@IwantToRetire He threatened to arrest him though.

The phrase "openly Jewish" is chilling because it implies that jewishness is something to be ashamed of, there's the long history of some having to hide it to survive, and finally what about openly female? Openly black? Are they going to be threatened with arrest for walking down the street flaunting these characteristics, and then blamed if they're a victim of violence?