London police faces backlash over controversial mosque sermon decision
Met Police initially didnt classify an anti-Jewish sermon as hate crime‚ causing public outcry. After social-media pressure the case got reopened and sent to Crown Prosecution Service
A sermon given at an east-london mosque last fall sparked heated debate about hate speech limits. The preacher made statements against Jewish people just weeks after oct 2023s Hamas attack
Oh Allah‚ curse the Jews and the children of Israel; break their words shake their feet disperse their unity and ruin their houses
The Metropolitan Police first decided the speech wasnt criminal‚ which caused strong push-back from jewish groups. The force later changed its mind and promised to re-check everything (which shows how complex these cases can be)
The case got more attention when the footage appeared on tv as part of a bigger look into anti-jewish speech in UK mosques. After getting lots of negative feedback on social-media the Met decided to take another look: they re-opened the case in may and sent it to prosecutors in october
- The Campaign Against Antisemitism called it a “poor decision“
- The Community Security Trust said people would find it hard to understand
- The mosque is located in redbridge area
The police looked at the whole sermon - its words context and story but didnt think it was crime-worthy at first. Now theyʼre waiting for the Crown Prosecution Services decision about what happens next
