A pro-Israel campaigner was left stunned when a police officer explained that saying ‘Jews are baby killers’ was ‘in the same vein’ as holding a placard stating ‘Hamas are rapists’.
The visibly shocked man was provided with that answer during a vigil in Brighton, East Sussex, which was held on Saturday to remember victims of the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, as well as the 55 hostages that remain in Gaza.
Campaign group Sussex Friends of Israel, which has shared footage of the incident on social media, tonight accused Sussex Police of ‘downplaying’ anti-Semitism after the officer ‘disagreed’ that the evocative words amounted to racial incitement.
The incident was sparked after a group of youths allegedly heckled vigil participants by saying ‘Jews are baby killers’.
As seen on the footage, one of the pro-Israel supporters approached a police officer to complain.
He tells the officer: ‘This man has just said that Jews kill children. That is a racially aggravated barb intended to incite hatred.
‘I wanted to stress [that by saying that] he intends harm to me and other Jews.’
The officer then responded that while he had heard the comment, people were allowed to ‘express views’.
A pro-Israel campaigner was left stunned when a police officer explained that saying ‘Jews are baby killers’ was ‘in the same vein’ as holding a placard stating ‘ Hamas are rapists’
The incident was sparked after a group of youths allegedly heckled vigil participants in Brighton, East Sussex, by saying ‘Jews are baby killers’
Campaign group Sussex Friends of Israel, which has shared footage of the incident on social media, tonight accused Sussex Police of ‘downplaying’ antisemitism after the officer ‘disagreed’ that the evocative words amounted to racial incitement
He explained: ‘I heard him say that, I’m not going to disagree that he didn’t say it, but we are in a public forum where people can express views.
‘I disagree that its a racially aggravated remark and at the same time there was a sign up there not too long ago saying ‘Hamas Are Rapists’, which I would suggest is in the same vein as the argument you have just made.’
A second campaigner then stepped forward to say that he ‘takes a great objection’ to what the officer has just told them.
‘Think about this for a second. ‘Jews are baby killers’ is in the same vein as stating ‘Hamas are rapists’. Think about it,’ he urges the officer.
The officer responds: ‘I’m simply saying that the tone of the messages that are used are very similar.
‘I’m not going to get into an argument with you in the street…[they are] simply expressing their views in relative calmness.
‘If they are going to start causing issues, we will be there to prevent them from doing that.
‘But while we are having an argument and a simple back and forth discussion on the street we’re not going to get anywhere are we?’
After a pair of vigil participants approached an officer to complain he told them: ‘We will agree to disagree on that aspect’
The officer asked the pair to return to the rest of the group ‘to stop an unnecessary escalation’
The vigil participant however disagrees.
He tells him: ‘Jews are an ethnicity, Hamas are a proscribed terrorist organisation. Having a poster saying ‘Hamas Are Rapists’ is not in the same vein as saying ‘Jews are baby killers.’ There’s no similarity whatsoever.’
The officer shakes his head and tells the men: ‘We will agree to disagree on that aspect.’
He then asks the pair to return to the rest of the group ‘to stop an unnecessary escalation.’
One of the men however tells the officer: ‘If they come and heckle us we have a right to respond.’
In a post on X tonight, Sussex Friends of Israel accused Sussex Police of making a ‘shocking false equivalence’.
The group said: ‘At today’s peaceful rally in support of Israel, held to remember the hostages murdered and taken on October 7th, we were confronted by a group of masked, aggressive youths shouting anti-Semitic slurs, including ‘Jews are baby killers.’
‘When we raised this with the police, the liaison sergeant in charge refused to recognise the comment as racially aggravated.
In a post on X tonight, Sussex Friends of Israel accused Sussex Police of making a ‘shocking false equivalence’.
‘Incredibly, he claimed it was ‘in the same vein’ as our placard stating ‘Hamas are rapists.’
‘This shocking false equivalence not only downplays vile antisemitism, but shows a complete failure by the police to uphold their duty throughout the event.’
Tonight antisemitism campaigners told MailOnline the officer had seemingly failed to ‘tell the difference between a minority and a terrorist organisation’ and described the incident as ‘appalling’.
Stephen Silverman, director of Investigations and Enforcement at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: ‘Britain has descended to a place where police officers cannot tell the difference between incitement against a minority that they are supposed to be protecting and a proscribed terrorist organisation that they are supposed to be defending our country against.
‘This embarrassing, pathetic excuse for policing is the product of the appeasement of extremists and racists that our police have engaged in since ‘Free Palestine’ thugs first started shouting abuse and mobbing our streets 20 months ago.
‘Sussex Police need to apologise for this appalling incident and find the perpetrator who had been right under their officers’ noses, but more importantly the Government needs to take charge and tell our police forces to get a grip.
‘When police can’t tell the difference between a minority and a terrorist organisation, it’s not just demoralising, it’s actually dangerous.’
MailOnline has contacted Sussex Police for comment.
