The Metropolitan Police has blocked a hardline anti-Zionist demonstration from taking place in Swiss Cottage this Friday.
Public Order Act conditions now prohibit any protest in the area surrounding the north London neighbourhood, where weekly rallies led by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist (IJAN) have taken place since October 2023 until police intervened in February.
The demo was allowed to return last Friday but decisive action has now been taken, it was announced tonight.
The Board of Deputies and grassroots group Stop The Hate welcomed the decision, with Board vice-president Andrew Gilbert saying, “We are deeply grateful to the police for taking swift action to protect our community. The right to protest is part of a free society, but so is the right to worship in peace and safety.”
He added: “By deliberately holding demonstrations in close proximity to several synagogues and on Friday nights, when many Jews attend prayer services and walk to visit family and friends, IJAN has broken the delicate balance. They have chosen to distress and intimidate the local Jewish community with outrageous and at times directly threatening conduct.”
Swiss Cottage anti-Zionist demo
Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart, the policing lead for Camden and Islington, said the “only way to prevent that level of disruption in this case is to use our powers to require the protest to take place elsewhere”.
He said the rallies had caused “fear and concern linked to a rise in antisemitic hate crime” and included “instances of hate speech and intimidating behaviour, including confrontation between this protest and counter-protest groups”.
Although protests were moved for eight weeks from February, the return to Swiss Cottage last week prompted renewed restrictions. A new exclusion zone includes NW3, NW6, NW8 and parts of NW2 and W9.
Stewart said: “Officers will still be deployed on Friday evening to ensure that anyone assembling in breach of the conditions is identified and dealt with appropriately.”
IJAN had been due to stage a protest on Finchley Road at the junction with Eton Avenue.
