4 minute read
Opinion
Poor result for London
OPINION PIECE BY ROBERT FESTENSTEIN
14 months ago, in a blatant demonstration of Jew-hate, a number of people drove down from Bradford in cars emblazoned with Palestinian flags. The cars which had loudspeakers attached, drove through Jewish areas and using the loudspeaker one of the people in the car called for Jewish women to be raped.
There was justifiably significant outrage at this appalling incident and in view of the video evidence available we all expected swift progress with prosecutions. Sadly, this has not been the case. In fact, the opposite. On Tuesday of this week the following was reported:
“The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told Wood Green Crown Court that charges have been dropped against Asif Ali, 26 and Adil Mota, 27. Both men had travelled from Blackburn in the convoy that drove through London on 16 May 2021. The CPS is still set to move ahead with its case against two other men also from Blackburn, Mohammed Iftikhar Hanif, 28, and Jawaad Hussain, 25 on charges of “using threatening, abusive or insulting words, or behaviour, with intent, likely to stir up racial hatred”.
Whilst the news that the CPS are dropping charges against two of the four people allegedly involved in the incident, is bad enough, but what is so much worse is the delay. How can it be that it takes 14 months to get to this point? There are so many issues involved here and the one that stands out head and shoulders above the rest is that when it comes to crimes against Jews, we are second class victims.
If the convoy had targeted any minority other than Jews, it is inconceivable that charges and subsequent prosecution would have taken this long. So again, why has it taken the authorities in London so long to get to this stage? One explanation is lack of political will. Whilst the Government has been robust on dealing with antisemitism, London has not. This week London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan met with an American Congresswoman - Ilhan Omar.
Ms Omar has a long history of accusations of antisemitism and particularly vile comments about Israel. On one occasion she said “Israel has hypnotised the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” Ms Omar is clearly not a woman of inclusivity and certainly not someone who has any support for Jews, yet for reasons which pass understanding Sadiq Khan is clearly prepared to ignore this hatred and hostility. Instead he astonishingly said “from the lakes of Minnesota to the bright lights of London, we must stand firm in upholding progressive values of equality and inclusion in the face of those who seek to divide us”.
“Evil doings of Israel…” is hardly the language of someone promoting equality and inclusion but then when it comes to Jews, they matter less. Which in turn brings us back to the delay in prosecution of those responsible for the hate convoy of May of last year. If the Mayor of London is happy to endorse the activities of a hate promoter such as Ms Omar, then it is little wonder he has no great interest in pushing the police or the CPS to take any swift action. A poor result for London.
Robert Festenstein is a practising solicitor and has been the principal of his Salford based firm for over 20 years. He has fought BDS motions to the Court of Appeal and is President of the Zionist Central Council in Manchester which serves to protect and defend the democratic State of Israel.
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